P2K II: Return of the collector
by WyldClaw
Summary: 'the power of one" sequel (and my hijacked fic). the heart of the WCverse (see profile for details). alternate movie ending to the 2nd film : what happens when lawrence i.e the collector wants revenge? AAML (ashxmisty love)! giovanni! charizard's return. still interested? read on. please read and review. thanks. new side fi added: Pikachu's choice. completed
1. teaser trailer and important things

P2K II: Lawrence's Revenge things to know by WyldClaw ( back in 2002- my very first BIG story)

Plot: what fueled Lawrence's revenge? I have created a prelude , as well as two trailers, and a character guide to answer that . Remember, I don't own any characters. if I did I would've made Misty stayed. If you flame me then, I can use you as target practice for my attacks, which include Slash, Hydro Pump, Ice Punch . or you can become targets for my Gyarados, Tiamat, when he practices Dragonbreath, Hyper Beam, Ice Beam, Thunder and Dragon Rage attacks. Does anybody have any questions? Good. compliments are always welcomed. I started this two part story long ago on September 15, 2002 . however since it is a loooong story I have decided to put up the story in chapters. The things to remember are: " " are when the humans are talking but Meowth is the only Pokémon that can talk like a human, ' ' are thoughts, during the trailers Bits of scenes and lines from previous movies/ other scenes are in _Italics _while the narrator talks in **bold**, , AAAAA is a break between the trailers, prelude and guide. () is Pokémon speech, translated into English. I don't know the last name of the villain in it, so I've given him the name Lawrence Juardian Le Villiyon II: his first name being his English name, his middle name being his Japanese one and the last name is a play on the words 'the villain', which he is. There are some lines from both parts in the trailers. The prelude is set at the end of **_Pokémon the Movie 2000_**. FIL stands for Fire Ice and Lightning-an inside -joke for readers who've seen **_Pokémon the Movie 2000_**. So now that's out of the way ... lets get ready to rumble!

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The Prelude:

About two years ago:

'

"I loathe that kid!" the man said to himself as he glared furiously through his telescope. He had olive green hair and light blue colored eyes. His clothes, which gave the appearance of a rich, debonair aristocrat, were dirty and torn in some places. His eyes were trained on a young jet-black haired boy with a Pikachu on his shoulders talking to a woman with light brown hair at the Shamouti Shrine.

Although he was a couple of miles from the Shrine, he could see the kid very clearly with his telescope. The longer he stared at the boy the more his passion for revenge grew, the hand clasped around the Ancient Mew card shaking with anger and rage. "He will pay for what he did! Lugia WILL be mine!"

'you have just made a dreadful enemy out of Lawrence Juardian Le Villiyon II. I will stop at NOTHING to get revenge' he thought as he turned away from the telescope and gazed at the wreckage of his aircraft.

The setting sun showed how much damage Lugia had truley done to it. The Aeroblast had destroyed it beyond repair. He had been thisclose to completing his destiny of being the one person in the world to capture the Water's Great Guardian. Then that boy had shown up and ruined everything! _Who was he and what did he have to do with the Legend, anyways?_

All of a sudden an idea appeared in Lawrence's head. Of course the Legend would tell him the answer. He had read the Legend so many times that he closed his eyes and recited it out of memory:

"Disturb not the harmony of Fire, Ice, or Lightning

Lest these Titans wreak destruction upon the world in which they clash.

Though the water's Great Guardian shall arrive to quell the fighting,

Alone its song shall fail

Thus the earth shall turn to ash.-"

he opened his eyes as he got to that line. It was perfectly clear- the kid's name was Ash. All he had to do was keep this Ash from getting to Fire, Ice and Lightning Islands again. he would have to learn all about the boy's weaknesses. The first rule of war, and revenge, was to know thy enemy. knew he would have to rebuild his airship if he were to fulfill his revenge on the kid , but not all by himself. He knew of a man, a friend if one was to use the term loosely who would hire people to rebuild it, but make it even stronger than before, so that once a pokémon was trapped it was trapped for good. But that man would want payment.

He knew the man desired rare and valuable pokémon,. _where would he find one?_

Lawrence smiled evilly, he had just thought of the ideal Pokémon. That boy's Pikachu was beyond powerful and he believed it was the boy's weak spot. He had seen how Ash had reacted when Zapdos had hit it with a weak Thundershock though at the time he had dismissed the thought. It had somehow managed to break through the force field imprisoning Moltres and free the Titan of Fire, although he saw that through a security camera but again had not thought it of any importance at the time. Lawrence's friend would certainly be pleased with it! Once he had the kid in his grasp there would be no more interference to keep him from completing his destiny.

What a prefect revenge it would be

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Character Guide and translating the the Shamuti Legend

Pikachu: This small yellow electric mouse of the electrical element is Ash Ketchum's first pokémon and because of this, he has an enormously special bond with him. He is the only character who witnesses the event at the beginning of Part 1. Pikachu doesn't like to see his human friends Ash or Misty hurt. He is so power-packed and strong that he has been known to knock Rock and Ground-type pokémon out with a single Thundershock regardless of the fact that electricity is ineffective against those types. Pikachu is also extremely fast compared to other Pokémon. His worst fear, apart from being separated from Ash, is being stuck in a pokéball because he is claustrophobic; which means he has a fear of small spaces. This fear gives a good explanation as to why he dislikes pokéballs. In addition to pokéballs, he despises Team Rocket, particularly Jessie, Meowth and James because they always try to separate him from Ash. This is the reason why he hates them a vast deal more than pokéballs. He is also Togepi's unofficial babysitter since he tries to keep him from getting hurt

Ashton "Ash" Ihsotas Ketchum: A thirteen and a half-year-old boy from Pallet Town, Kanto with chocolate brown eyes and jet-black hair that is usually covered by his lucky Pokémon League hat whose life's ambition is to become the world's greatest Pokémon Master. Ash's name is written all the way down Lawrence Juardian Le Villiyon II's hit list because he brought together the treasures of Moltres, Articuno and Zapdos to the Shamuti shrine, therefore giving the Great Guardian, Lugia, strength to defeat Lawrence two years ago. He is the noted Chosen One in the Shamuti Legend. Ash is very compassionate towards his Pokémon and friends, but he will do anything for Pikachu, his first Pokémon with whom he has a very strong friendship. He cannot put up with Gary Oak, his rival, who irritates the living daylights out of him by calling him "Ashy-boy". Apart from Gary, his main foes are Team Rocket, especially Jessie, James and Meowth. These three follow him and Misty around as always after his Pikachu, who is so much stronger than other ones that he has been known to defeat Rock and Ground types. For this reason, Ash hates them a great deal more than Gary. Aside from Pikachu, Ash also has a Bayleaf who has a huge crush on him, a shiny Noctowl, a Cyndaquil, a Totodile, and a Phanpy with him in the story

Misty Imusak Waterflower: A pretty 13 ½ year-old girl from Cerulean City, Kanto with orange-red hair. Misty is determined to learn everything she can about Water Pokémon. She used to be the Cerulean City Pokémon Gym Leader but now that job belongs to her three older sisters: Daisy, Violet, and Lily, the Cerulean City Synchronized Swimming Sisters who are more concerned about their looks than about Pokémon battles. These three girls are known as the Misty has been traveling with Ash ever since he destroyed her bike in an effort to save Pikachu from a flock of angry Spearows three and a half years ago and has been bugging him about the money for a new one. But she hasn't brought this subject up since she and Ash were heading back to Viridian City so he could get an Earth Badge. She has the only Togepi in the world in her care. She was the first person Togepi saw after he hatched and he imprinted on her. This means that Togepi thinks she's his mother and since Ash was the second person he saw, Togepi believes he is his father. She, like Ash and Pikachu, despises Team Rocket, but for the most part Jessie, James, and Meowth. Bug-type Pokémon bug Misty. Apart from Togepi, Misty also has a Psyduck who has a bad tendency of coming out of his pokeball when she doesn't call him out, a Politoed, a Corsola and a Staryu with her in the story.

Jessie, Meowth and James: The three bungling members of Team Rocket that follow Ash and Misty around. They have dreams of stealing rare and valuable Pokémon, like his Pikachu for example, for their boss, Giovanni, and receiving a big fat paycheck or promotion in return. Luckily for Ash and Misty, they have never succeeded. Jessie has long red-purplish hair that curls to a point in the back whereas James has short indigo blue hair with light blue highlights that comes down halfway down his neck. Meowth taught himself how to talk and walk like a human in order to make an impression on a rich, female Meowth he had a crush on but she dumped him for a more mature Persian. He was also Team Rocket's Top Cat for a while before another Persian took his place. Because of these reasons, Meowth has an intense dislike of Persians and will never evolve into one. James was born into an enormously prosperous family but he ran away when he was forced to marry a stuck up, wealthy woman named Jessiebelle. Not much is known about Jessie's past before she joined Team Rocket except her family was awfully poverty-stricken. These three's worst fear is that they will be kicked off of Team Rocket. In Giovanni's eyes, these three are an embarrassment to Team Rocket seeing as they can't capture a Magicarp to save their lives. Jessie, James and Meowth all hate the "twerps", which is what they call Ash and Misty, but have formed short-lived alliances with them a few times in the past. Apart from Meowth, Jessie has a Wobbufet that has a habit similar to Psyduck's where it pops out of it's pokeball without being called out and an Arbok whereas James has a Victreebel and a Weezing.

Lawrence Juardian Le Villiyon II: He is the Lugia-obsessed villain of the story as well as **_Pokémon the Movie 2000. _**He will do anything to get a hold of the Great Guardian, Lugia. This includes getting rid of a certain black-haired, Pokémon League hat-wearing boy who thwarted him from capturing Lugia the first time. Lawrence plainly abominates Ash with a passion for this reason. Lawrence will also kill anyone else, people and pokémon alike, who gets in his way. No one knows anything about Lawrence's past, nor do they want to

What the Shamuti Legend is and what it means:

Disturb not the harmony of Fire, Ice, or Lightning.

Lest these Titans wreak destruction upon the world in which they clash.

Though the waters' Great Guardian shall arrive to quell the fighting,

Alone its song shall fail.

Thus the earth shall turn to ash.

O Chosen One into thine hands bring together all three.

Their treasures combined, tame the Beast of the Sea

Lawrence needs to get the Titans of Fire, Ice and Lightning: Moltres, Articuno and Zapdos, in one place to call upon the Great Guardian, Lugia. Each of the Titans has their own island in the center of the Orange Islands. Fire Island is home to Moltres, Lightning Island is Zapdos' domicile and Ice Island is where Articuno lives. On each of the three islands is a glass ball-like sphere- that island's treasure. If all three treasures are collected and brought to the Shamuti Shrine by the Chosen One then Lugia will be able to calm the fighting of Zapdos, Articuno and Moltres. If there is no Chosen One to gather the three treasures from the trio of islands and bring them to the Shamuti Shrine, then Lugia will be overwhelmed by the three Titans, who will continue with putting an end to the world with their fighting. Lawrence needs Ash out of the way so that he can reclaim Lugia as his own and then there will be nobody there to stop him

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Teaser trailer:

**It's been nearly two long years since the incident**

"Did ya steal dat from a trainer?" Meowth asked. "Cause if ya did, ya could have stolen some more useful items for us to sell. How do ya know dat one is da one dat contains –"

**Almost 24 months to think about what went wrong the first time**

'That boy will pay very soon' the man glared angrily through his telescope at the jet-black haired boy

**That's 712 days to plot revenge against the only person who stopped him.**

"That boy will pay! Lugia WILL be mine!"

'Okay, I don't think I'm in Cerulean City anymore, 'he thought 'but where am I?"

"Get up, little boy"

"You." Ash gasped.

"You don't care about me at all, Ash Ketchum! You-you meant everything you said to me the other night in the forest. Sometimes I wish you would just disappear from my life forever, which you ruined the day you ruined my bike!" she yelled.

_Scene cuts to a pokeball opening to reveal the title in red with a white border:_

**Pokèmon the Movie 2000 II: Lawrence's Revenge**

**The fan-made sequel to Pokèmon the Movie 2000**

"Misty?" Ash muttered to himself

**This time there is more than ever**

Misty felt like there was a knot in her stomach that grew tighter with every step she took but she didn't know why. She just had a feeling like something bad had happened.

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The trailer

He's faced off against Mewtwo –

"You can't do this. I won't let you"

_Clips of pokemon's tears reviving Ash_

**He's helped save the world-**

"I'm the chosen one?"

_Clips of Ash trying to get the ancient spheres_

"It's right there in the legend. The earth shall turn to ash."

He's battled the Unown-

_Clips of Ash battling Entei and the Unknown_

"If anything ever happened to you, we'd be out of showbiz"

_Clips of Charizard saving ash and battling Entei_

**He's fought the iron-masked marauder-**

_Clips of Ash and Sammy battling the iron-masked marauder's pokémon_

**Now one of Ash's old foes is back…. But he's not alone. There is someone who has been watching our young hero from the start**

_Scene cuts to Lawrence shaking hands with Giovanni and Lawrence explaining something to him, their faces half hidden in the shadows_.

Then as Ash felt a small breeze blow by his feet, he knew what the cats were waiting for, why their eyes had flashed dark blue before they had attacked Pikachu An enormous white ball of matter appeared in the air next to Ash and zoomed right at Pikachu like he was a magnet and it a bunch of nails "Look out!" he shouted to warn Pikachu of the massive Future Sight attack, but it was too late!

Misty felt like Stun Spore rooted her feet to the floor. she saw the Persian, its mouth wide open displaying fang like teeth able of digging deep into her skin, run towards her. 'I'm going to die. I'm going to die. I'm gonna die"

**KidsWB in association with FIL productions presents…**

"It will be okay, Ash " she reassured him. "But, you did save the entire planet again" she pointed out as she picked Togepi up & put him on Ash's lap.

(Daddy's gone!) Togepi cried as he pointed to the empty bed. Misty felt a pang of horror as she remembered what she yelled him before she had fallen asleep crying: "Sometimes I wish that you would just disappear from my life forever, which you ruined the day you ruined my bike!"

It hit him so deep that he snapped he did the one thing he promised himself he would never do. (That does it! You may call me weak but NEVER CALL ASH PATHETIC IN FRONT OF ME!) He yelled the last part of this as he Mega Kicked Persian off of him

(Charizard!) Togepi cried happily.

"We know what his plan is. You have to trust us this time."

_Scene cuts to a chair with someone sitting in it that slowly turns around. Just as the light hits the front of the chair, the scene cuts to the earth, which morphs into a pokeball. The ball opens up and reveals red words with white borders as the narrator says them:_

**Pokemon the Movie 2000 II: Lawrence's revenge**

**The action packed sequel to Pokemon the movie 2000**

The reality then hit Ash like a herd of stampeding Ponytas

**The greatest sacrifice of all will soon take place.**


	2. part 1a

P2k II: Lawrence's Revenge Part 1a by WyldClaw

Plot: What if the Collector, the second movie's villain, wanted revenge on Ash? This long two-part story and sequel to hijacked is my **_Pokémon the Movie 2000_** sequel . I first began this on September 15, 2002 – my very first big fanfic. since it is a very long story I have divided it into chapters. I don't know the official name of the villain in it, so I've given him the name Lawrence Juardian Le Villiyon II, his first name being English, his middle name is his Japanese name and his surname is a pun on 'the villain'. If you use it without my say-so, I'll sen, my Gyarados, Tiamat after you! Brock isn't in it. Sorry. This story takes place post-**_Pokèmon 4Ever _**before **_Pokèmon heroes._** Episode wise, this fic is between episode 232 _hatching a plan_, when Phanpy hatches and episode 233: _Due's and Don'ts. _Just pretend there were about 3-5 weeks in between those episodes in which they visited a lot of little towns and forests, got in lots of fights and did some training. I'm saying this once so it here goes: I DON'T OWN ANY POKEMON CHARACTERS and NEVER EVER WILL!

Author's notes for part 1: () is translated Poke-speech. Meowth is the only One that can talk like a human. **Scene change** means just that whereas _italics_ mean a flashback. ' Are thoughts and " " are humans talking. Mommy and Daddy are what Togepi calls Misty and Ash. He has a lisp so he replaces the 'r' sound with a 'w'. Most importantly Lawrence can't understand Pokemon apart from Meowth, since he talks like a human. I don't own the flashback lines since those lines are from the second film. I made up the Togepi myth and no one can use it without my permission. Whoever takes it without telling me first, they can either be snacks for a pack of Aerodactyls or Tiamat can use them as targets when he practices his Dragon Rage, Twister, Dragonbreath, and Hyper Beam attacks. It's your funeral err choice. Now where was I? Oh yes, there are references to my story, Hijacked as well as **_Pokémon the Movie 2000_**, so you might want to check those out beforehand. This part has amounts of Pokéshipping, (AshxMisty love) a small amount of blood and violence that might scare young readers. There are a few time times where the characters reference the third movie, the second movie and the second half of the S.S. Anne arc. Compliments are always valued. It's suggested that you read Lawrence's Revenge Teaser, Character Guide and Hijacked and see **_Pokémon the movie 2000_** before you read this Fic. Pretend, Ash and Misty, stayed at the Cerulean City gym for the night instead of leaving at the end of Hijacked. Misty's sisters are mentioned at the start but that's it. . Get it? Got it? Good. that's a quote from **_the court jester_**. What can I say? Great movie. On with the show!

Recap: after a fight with Misty Ash gave her a [fake] bike voucher and she ran off. Our favorite dimwitted Team Rocket trio- Jessie, James, and Meowth kidnapped her and left a ransom note telling our hero that he'd have to give up Pikachu to rescue her at the gym. With the help of his old friend Duplica, he was able to rescue her, at the same time trying to deal with his growing feelings for her

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Narrator: it's nighttime at the Cerulean city gym. Our two heroes had a huge fight during dinner earlier when Daisy asked ash if he came because of misty. He's trying to apologize to Her but it's not going well at all. Let's take a closer peek, shall we?

XxX

"I told you to go away!" Misty yelled at Ash from inside her room. He was standing in the hallway on the other side of the door. "Just-just leave me alone!"

"Look, Misty. How was I supposed to know Violet and Daisy was going to ask me if the reason I came was because I care deeply about you" He responded. "They seemed so innocent about it. "

"You-you don't know Daisy, Violet and Lilly like I do. They'll weasel anything out of anyone. They'd make fun of the boys I liked and t-tell me that no one would want to date a little runt." Misty sobbed into her blue tie-dyed pillow. The last thing she wanted to do was blurt out loud to Ash that she liked him more than a friend, that she loved him.

"I had to tell them that I didn't care about you so that they would get off my back about what happened today. I truly didn't mean it." He replied.

" That's such a load of bosh! Of course you meant every word " she countered.

"No I didn't."

" You're a liar…" she choked back a tear.

'Look, Misty. I. I. would never intentionally put you in harm's way. I didn't know those morons heard our fight. " He sighed. He took a deep breath and knew what he had to say. "I want you to know that, well I -" he began. Her next words hurt more than a harsh double slap attack.

"You don't care about me at all, Ash Ketchum! You-you meant everything you said to me the other night in the forest "she interrupted, her voice getting louder as she spoke. "All y-you care about is your stupid gym badges and making it farther in the Silver Conference. You just don't want a repeat of what happened at Indigo Plateau so you just p-push your pokémon past their limits. You don't want m-me around at all! I hate you Ash! Sometimes I wish you would disappear from my life forever, which you ruined the day you ruined my bike!" she yelled.

He stepped back as if her words had a dealt physical blow. He felt wounded by her words, which echoed in his head as he walked down the long hallway to the guest bedroom that he and Pikachu were using.

"I hate you Ash".

"Don't care about me at all."

"Hate you."

"Disappear from my life."

"Push your Pokémon past their limits"

"Hate you Ash."

That last comment kept repeating in his head. _Was it what I told her the other night in the forest? _He reached the door and opened it. Pikachu was waiting for him in his sleeping bag on the floor. (You didn't get to tell her did you?)

"Well, actually,… how'd you know I didn't?"

(I could hear her spat all the way down here with the door shut. One advantage of being a pokemon is my hearing is a lot better than humans. But it's not that useful when Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest grab me from behind) He stated.

"Don't remind me about those three idiots." Ash said as he put his Pokèmon League hat on the bedside table next to his pokéballs, closed the door, put on his nightshirt and got into the bed. "Next time we bump into those three, they're going to pay for the humiliation that their stupid plan caused me tonight. "

(a little Thunderbolt followed up by Thundershock then frying them to a crisp with Thunder.) Pikachu replied dreamily with a smile on his face as he pictured it.

"They deserve it. That stupid arbok of Jessie nearly killed us..."

The mouse shivered, recalling the Poison type's fangs in his skin. (That was way too close . )

"Sorry it made you dizzy and poisoned you, pal. I should have known he would try a dirty trick like that.

(It's not your fault Ash.) The mouse reassured him. (If Seadra and Dewgong hadn't distracted him with that insult...I–I would be-) he shuddered – he couldn't finish and his trainer knew it so he changed the subject. (Sooo When are you going to tell Misty truth?)

The teen's face went red hot for a few seconds. "Uhhh... i-"

(The longer you put it off the worse it will be)

" Okay I'll tell her tomorrow morning ... away from her sisters. Goodnight Pikachu." He said as he turned off the light

(Night, Ash) he replied and they both fell sound asleep.

Ash didn't know he wouldn't be able talk to Misty the next morning. He couldn't have known two glowing yellow eyes had been watching him from the window.

A few hours later Pikachu heard a figure sneak into the gym that night so he opened his eyes. He heard the gym's door open (It's just the wind. It's just the wind. Calm down) he told himself, (if it's just the wind, why is my heart pounding in my throat, like something bad is going to happen?)

Then the door opened and he saw an outline of a man enter the room so he stuck his head out of his sleeping bag a bit "Soon you will be mine " he heard the man mutter in a voice that made his yellow fur-covered body shiver so he ducked his head back, retreated deep inside his sleeping bag, almost squishing his lightning-bolt shaped tail and shut his eyes. He kept quiet as he lay still, his heart beating as quick as a Rapidash, hardly daring to breath loudly. .

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

It was so loud he thought the man would hear it, but he didn't. He stayed that way until he heard the door close about ten minutes later. He opened his eyes, got out of the bag and jumped up onto the bed to wake Ash up. (Ash, you got -) he stopped mid-sentence.

There was no sign of him anywhere; in fact the bed was empty of him. The covers were on the floor as if the man was in a hurry and the door was ajar. Even his pokéballs were gone. His Pokèmon League hat lay on the bedside table where he put it last night. He picked it up with his paws and shed tears for his missing trainer.

**Scene change Scene change Scene change Scene change Scene change Scene change Scene change**

"TOGEPI!" Misty woke up breathing hard and sweaty, not to her own voice but to her little pokemon pulling on her arm and asking her something.

(Mommy, mommy wake up. why were shouting out my name?)

"N-no reason, sweetie. I just had a bad dream" she lied. She had seen him in her nightmare- had seen someone injure him greatly. 'It was just a stupid nightmare, Misty. It wasn't real. It wasn't real. But it felt so real and terrible'... It was too awful to tell him about what she'd seen and she knew she'd never tell a soul. Her rapid heartbeat and breathing went back to normal after a few minutes.

"Did I wake you up?" she looked at him and he shook his head "then what's the matter,"

(I was sleeping when I heard you muttering and Pikachu crying) Togepi told her (Why's he crying, Mommy?

"I don't know. Let's find out," she said as she scooped him up in her arms, got out of bed, put a bathrobe over her clothes as she had fallen asleep in them the night before, opened her door and went to find him. As she walked, there was a knot in her stomach that grew tighter with every step she took but she didn't know why- She just had a bad feeling. .

They found Pikachu in the guest-room. "What's wrong, Pi-" she stopped as she turned on the lights and her worst fear was confirmed. 'No!'

(Look! Daddy's gone!) Togepi cried as he pointed to the vacant bed and deep down inside, She felt a pang of horror as she recalled what she told him before she had fallen asleep crying: "Sometimes I wish that you would just disappear from my life forever!"

She knew they didn't agree sometimes and fought a lot, like about how who got them lost and his training methods, etc. she never knew what she'd do if something really happened to him. She guessed that he saw her as a sister and he was like a brother. Over the years that brother/sister relationship had developed into friendship. Then without her noticing it blossomed into a huge hidden crush he didn't know about which made her stay with him.

Her jaw dropped as she saw Ash's hat in Pikachu's paws. 'His lucky hat! He'd never leave it behind...'

Pikachu told her what had happened. (And after the man l-left i- i went up here to wake Him up to tell him about the man. he was g-g-gone) he choked. Misty could tell he was very distressed so she held him in her arms. They sobbed for what seemed like awhile.

A thought came into her head "Wait a second" she suddenly said, "If that man said that you'll be his soon-"

(Then he's got to be Jessie and James' boss. you know the one they on want to impress) Pikachu finished the sentence for her (he probably thought I was in a pokeball)

(And Officer Jenny forgot to take Meowth with her.) Togepi said. They all grinned, especially Pikachu.

The big-mouthed cat would know what happened. All it would take to get it out of him would be a little incentive.

**Scene change Scene change Scene change Scene change Scene change Scene change Scene change**

"I ain't tellin' ya where he is, girlie an' dere's no way yer going make me " Meowth replied, staring at Misty from where he had been tied to a chair in the locker room.

"Staryu, Dewgong, Corsola, Starmie, Water Gun!" She ordered with a hint of anger in her voice. The force of the sub-zero temperature water threw Meowth back into a locker fifteen feet away, breaking the ropes.

" I ain't talkin'. Did someone get da number of dat Water Gun?" Meowth muttered as Pikachu came up to him.

(Where is he?) He asked.

"I don't know who yer talkin' about. All I know is dat he's on some airship-" Meowth stopped mid-sentence. 'Uh oh, I just let myself out of da bag," he thought

(Who took him, Meowth? I can do this the easy way or my way) Pikachu declared. Meowth felt around for the rubber bag he had brought with him. "What's this for?" Misty held the rubber bag up

"Uh Budderfree collectin'? " Meowth lied. Misty, Pikachu and the other pokemon snorted with laughter

(If that's true, then I'm a Magicarp and you've been chasing us just to give Ash-) Pikachu's eyes looked wet for a second as he said his trainer's name, (back his wallet he dropped in the Viridian City pokémon Cen-Hey!)

While Pikachu had been talking, Meowth had snatched the bag out of Misty's hands and flung it over him. "Gotcha! I finally bagged me a Pikachu!" Meowth laughed as Pikachu struggled to get out.

(Let me out!) He tried to shock it while Meowth secured the opening shut.

"Dat's not gonna work." Meowth stated and he stopped.

(I'm going to get out of this bag and kick your tail. Then I'm going to give you the Thundershocking of your life)

"Oooh, I'm sooo scared," Meowth mockingly said as he to haul the bag forward when he saw Misty, Staryu, Starmie, Corsola and Dewgong block the door. Togepi tried to block his way but Meowth just pushed him out of the way.

"You aint gonna to shock yer way outta dat bag. Dat bag is one hundred percent rub-" he screeched to a stop a half-inch away from Dewgong, her horn pointed at his throat. "Err, nice sharp horn ya got dere," he said uneasily, glancing down at the sharp, pointy horn a few inches from skewering his throat.

(Flattery gets lowlife fleabags nowhere) she said, her eyes narrowed, (no souvenirs allowed at this gym) she motioned toward the bag. (Now turn around before I turn you into shiskabob) he did just that and then she used her Horn Drill attack to slice the bag open, freeing Pikachu. Meowth heard him charging up and he ran about the room.

(Meowth, look behind you! It's a huge ball of yarn) Dewgong cried and he stopped,

"Yarn! Where? I don't see no-Yipes!" he turned around and found himself facing Pikachu.

(Thanks) Pikachu called over his head to her (I asked you, you tried to snatch me yet again. Now I'm at the end of my rope. You know where Ash is, Meowth I know you-. Hey! Where do you think you're going?)

"Uh Da little kitten's room?" he said, hoping Pikachu wouldn't notice that he was trying to walk away. He had started to slink away toward the exit but Pikachu quickly ran over to him and stepped on his tail.

(Oh no, you don't) the electrical pouches on his cheeks started crackling with electricity

The cat realized with horror that his fur was still soaking wet "Ya wouldn't." his eyes went wide as he thought hard about how NOT to get fried. "Um, did I say dat someone took da twoip dere? What I meant is dat he went dere willingly" he fibbed. "Yeah. Dat's it. I saw him as he was leavin'. He passed me an' den he told me dat he had had enough of da moronic girl whose been a real witch lately an' was leavin' forever -"

(he'd never say those things; He loves Mommy and would never call her that) Togepi interrupted. Misty looked fiercely at the cat.

"But he knew how tired ya was from yesterday " The cat pointed at Pikachu with a claw, "So he told me ta take ya to him when ya woke up. Dat's da truth so what do ya tink? "

Pikachu, Misty, Staryu, Dewgong, Corsola, Starmie, and Togepi all looked suspiciously at Meowth for a second. 'Tauros crud' he thought. 'Dey ain't fallin' fer it at all.'

(THIS IS WHAT I THINK ABOUT THOSE LIES!) Pikachu yelled out as he began giving Meowth the Thunderbolting of the scratch cat nine lives.

"AAAIIIEEEE! OKKAAY YOOOUUU WINN! I-I'LLL TELLL!" he shouted after a few minutes. Pikachu stopped shocking him. He fell to the floor, his fur a hue of charcoal. 'Dis jus' ain't my day' meowth thought.

(I'll ask you one last time, Meowth, who took Ash. Answer me truthfully) Pikachu asked the cat. He didn't want to get fried again so he answered truthfully before fainting: "Da Boss. He's woikin' wid Lawrence."

Misty, dewgong, Togepi and pikachu looked at each other. "Who's that?"

**Scene change Scene change Scene change Scene change Scene change Scene change Scene change**

'Oh my aching head. It feels like an Onix hit it,' Ash thought as he woke up with a huge pounding headache. He looked around and saw that he was in a large sized cell in an enormous room. In the middle there was a dark black chair with its back to him. Ornate vases and paintings were placed along steel-like walls. " I have a feeling I'm not in Cerulean City anymore" he said "but where am I?"

" Get up, boy" Ash heard a familiar voice come from a figure in the chair, which turned around slowly to face him

"You." Ash gasped when he saw who was in it. The man in the chair got up and walked toward him. He had olive-colored hair with ringlets around his ears. His eyes were the color of a Water Stone, but colder. He wore gold studs in his ears and was dressed in clean clothes that might have suggested that he was a rich aristocrat. He recognized him immediately as the man who had tried to capture Lugia throwing the balance of nature completely out of control and nearly destroying the world in the first place, about two years ago.

"Yes, Chosen One, I, Lawrence Juardian de Villiyon II or to many Collector. All my life, I have attempted to add Lugia to my collect-"

"Pokèmon are living creatures, not things to be collected like dolls. And I have a name" Ash interrupted, but Lawrence went on as if he hadn't spoken,

". World's rarest and powerful pokémon with the best bait, you' he smiled at him evilly.

Ash felt like someone punched him in the gut. "Keep your dirty stinking hands off my Pikachu!" he yelled at him from his jail. 'What is it with everyone wanting him?'

The madman continued. "Why on earth would I even want that filthy runt of yours, boy? It's too weak for me"

He gave Lawrence a dirty look. 'How dare he offend Pikachu like that, calling him weak and a filthy runt' he thought. "No, your friend's Togepi is what I desire."

"Huh? What do you want with him?" he asked of his captor as he gripped the cell bars with his hands, hoping that they would bend at least a little. Nothing happened so he unclenched his hands from the bars. "And how come you're interested in him? I thought you were obsessed with Lugia."

"I still am boy. But that little pokemon will help me get it. There is a myth around it. If it is given to a very powerful and worthy person, then it will give that person eternal good luck and fortune. It has even been said to make a person's greatest desires come true. You and that girl may have escaped me out of luck the last time but it's about to end. With it, I will have every single legendary in my control because it will pinpoint their every move."

"You? A worthy person? Riiiiight and geodudes fly. Togepi won't leave Misty. He thinks she's his mother". Ash pointed out.

"I'll get her to part with it" Lawrence replied. "even if i have to do it by force."

Ash couldn't believe what he was hearing: Lawrence was so fixated with obtaining Lugia he was going to separate Togepi from the only mother he knew. 'A treasure detector,' he thought, 'that's all Togepi is to him'

"See , she'll want to rescue her boyfriend, that's you by the way" his face turned the hue of a Rapidash's mane when Lawrence said "boyfriend".

"I'm not her boyfriend" Ash replied through gritted teeth but Lawrence ignored him

. "So she gives Togepi to me in exchange for you and the rat to a wonderful organization called Team Rocket-" Ash laughed at this, one didn't have to be as stupid as a Magicarp to know that Team Rocket was NOT a wonderful organization "...And Team Rocket has that rat of yours." Lawrence ended and walked back to his chair.

Ash turned his back to him, sat on the cold floor, and got a small photo out of his vest pocket and looked at it. Ash was looking at Misty holding Togepi and himself Pikachu on his shoulder. He was holding the Orange Island League Trophy with one hand and doing his victory pose with the other. It had been taken just after he had beaten Drake, the leader of the Orange Crew. His Dragonite was so tough it had beaten Tauros and Charizard but a few electric attacks from Pikachu wore it down before he used a Thunder attack while positioned on the dragon's head finally defeated.

He sure packed a punch for such a small guy; from all the exercise he got being outside his pokeball and the fact Ash used him in battles a lot. As a result, he hardly ever lost, even against ground and rock types, which electric types were weak against .

Ash's eyes began watering at the thought of him. Pikachu, his best non-human friend and the strongest pokémon he had, would be taken away by the one organization he had to constantly protect him from.

"Don' t give up hope, Pikachu; I never gave up when Team Rocket would take you from me. Do the same for me, buddy. I promise I'll find a way back to you... I hope', Ash thought as a tear splashed onto the photo. As he concentrated on the memories the picture brought up, he heard a voice he easily recognized since he had countless number of battles with this person that he could pick out her voice from a crowd

"What' s the plan?" Jessie's distinct voice floated over to Ash's prison. He sat up, put the photo away, went up to the cage bars and listened.

"The girl gives me Togepi for my collection. After Chosen one " he pointed to Ash,, "sees the runt, you two stuff it into my cage before it has a chance to run and guard it. When I capture Lugia, a certain boy" He glared at Ash, I will not stop me again. Soon your boss arrives to pick up his present in return for the boy. Now shoo.."

They left. Lawrence came over to his cell with a computer, ready to call the gym in one hand and a sharp knife in the other. He smiled evilly as he put the computer on a desk that had appeared next to Ash's cell, opened it up, pressed some keys and waited. While it connected he grabbed Ash's shirt by the collar with one hand and pulled it through the bars until the cold cage bars were touching the boy's face.

Misty's face appeared on the screen. "Cerulean Gym, Misty Water- Holy Mew! Ash, is that you? where are you? Are you okay?"

'No I'm not, I'm trapped on the airship of the man who tried to capture Lugia two years ago and now he wants to get revenge on me. Call Officer Jenny quick and inform her that there's a kidnapper on the loose and I know who it is. It's Jessie and James' boss!' Ash wanted to say to her and even thought it but looking at the blade in Lawrence's hand he decided to keep his mouth shut. He nodded, tears as big as Pokéballs flooding down his face.

"Where are you?" she asked

"On my improved, indestructible airship" Lawrence said.

"Who are you?" Misty asked Lawrence, if trying to remember who he was. "I know I recognize you from somewhere but I can't seem to place it ."

"Let me jog your memory, girl: Well, this certainly is a pleasure." Then it dawned on Misty as she remembered him. Her jaw dropped in horror as a memory from two years ago came up

_"What do you think? Moltres, the Bird of Fire and Zapdos, the Bird of Lightning. . Of course without Articuno, it's not a complete set, but-" the man began. _

_Misty was sickened by this strange man's talk. How could anyone think of pokemon like they were mere objects! It was sickening! They were living, breathing creatures, alive as everyone else caught in the hanging cage._ _This strange man was talking about the legendary birds as if they were nothing more than a group of antique dolls or a set of books. It was horrible! she had enough of this. "That's disgusting! The way you talk, it's like pokemon are things to collect, like dolls or stamps. What kind of trainer are you?" Misty interrupted from the hanging cage that she, Tracey, Meowth, Jessie, Pikachu, Ash, Melody and Togepi, and James were all in._

_He shook he head at this and then replied. "I'm afraid I'm not a trainer, young lady. I am merely a collector. I began my collection with a Mew card and now I have all this. Legendary pokemon have always been my passion and soon my collection itself will be legendary."_

" Y-You're that collector we stopped from trying to get Lugia in the Orange Islands . I thought that the Aeroblast destroyed your ship."

"It did, but why don't we save that for later. how rude of me, I haven't told you my name yet. It's Lawrence Juardian de Villiyon II, or just Collector. Say hello to your boyfriend first." Lawrence said.

Misty and Ash's faces both went as red as two Slugmas. A second later, Misty became her regular self again. "Do you know how badly Pikachu has been worried sick about you?" she asked him and before Ash had a chance to speak," she continued. "He's coming right now."

A minute later, Ash saw his face fill up the screen and he also had been crying.

(is-Is it you?) He said as he put one paw on the screen & Ash put his left hand through the bars and on the screen as if to touch his paw.

It's okay, Pikachu" Ash reassured him as he removed his hand. Lawrence pushed the cold blade across his throat with the other where a thin line of blood trickled down. Misty's face reappeared

"You better not hurt him! He still... owes me a bike" she said her face a little pink.

Ash's face dropped . 'why did she have to bring that up again ? That bike saved pikachu and me from those stupid Spearows?'

"I'll do anything! Just-Just don't hurt him" she said

"My ... helpers will be arriving at the gym soon to take you to my stationary ship. Bring the rat with you or he gets fed to the Tentacruels!" Lawrence shut the computer off, pushed a button and the desk and the computer both disappeared into the floor. He then let go of Ash's shirt and shoved him back into the cell.

Ash landed on the floor and Lawrence started to walk away but turned his head back to look angrily at Ash, as if he had just read his mind

"Don't you even think about trying to escape, unless you want me to put you in an impenetrable force field. You remember my force fields,? The diamond shaped force fields that brought Zapdos, you and your friends up here two years ago from Fire Island? This time there won't be any escape from it. " Ash gulped. "If you try to ruin anything, I will not hesitate to kill you. So get comfortable" he ended with a laugh as he walked away.

**Scene change Scene change Scene change Scene change Scene change Scene change Scene change**

Back at the gym, Misty was panicking. "What are we going to do?" she asked Pikachu, eyes moist with tears.

(I don't know) he said sadly and started to cry. He was supposed to protect Ash, not let him get kidnapped. (It's my fault that man took you, Pikapi.) Pikachu said between tears. (I'm sorry! I should have been taken instead) he felt one of Misty's hands touch his shoulder, so he stopped crying and looked up at her

"It's not your fault, Pikachu. Sometimes things happen but that does not mean it's anyone's fault." She said but in her head she thought, 'except mine since I told him to disappear from my life last night. I never got to tell him that I didn't mean it and that I love him'

(Like when Entei took Daddy's mommy and he held himself wesponsible, wight Mommy?) Togepi asked Misty, who nodded

"That's right, but he didn't sit around crying over it. Besides, Ash would want you to be strong."

Pikachu took what Misty had just said into consideration for a few minutes Whenever Jessie, Meowth and James would catch him, and he kept telling himself that Ash would follow them endlessly just to get him back. He never cried over that, no matter how many times they were separated. It was just like that but with their roles reversed. Now he had to be strong for Ash.

Then they heard a balloon fall to the ground outside and Togepi, Misty, Meowth and Pikachu rushed outside "What do you two morons want now?" Misty yelled as Pikachu saw the Meowth -shaped balloon on the ground, his fur bristling with anger at them as Meowth ran over to them "Haven't you done enough already? How did you get here so fast?"

"Lawrence sent us." James said. " He gave us some one way warp transporter button."

(These idiots are his helpers?) Pikachu asked her.

"Unfortunately I think so." Misty said with a disgusted look on her face like she had been force-fed a Muk.

Pikachu got ready to shock James and Jessie. (Give me one very good reason why I shouldn't shock you two so hard that your hair stands up on end permanently) he spoke as Meowth translated. He fought a strong urge to Thunderbolt them right there.

"We know what his plan is. You have to trust us "

"What?"

(How do you -?) The mouse's fur lay flat.

". We have a plan that might trick him and save you ... but you have to believe us." Jessie told him as she moved toward them.

Pikachu backed away. He had too many bad experiences with Team Rocket and trusted them about as Ash trusted Gary Oak, his rival, which wasn't saying much. He half-expected Jessie to or grab him with rubber gloves on, stuff him in a rubber bag and run off, but nothing happened.

Misty bent down on her knees down to talk to Togepi and Pikachu. She huddled around the two pokemon, therefore creating a circle from Meowth, Jessie and James. Pikachu was sure that Meowth was ease dropping and told Misty this. They moved over til they were a good distance away from them and sure they wouldn't be overheard. "Should we trust these three losers?" she asked them, eying the three Rocket members carefully

(We don't have a choice) Pikachu told her.

(How come they want to help us? I thought that they hated us, Mommy?) Togepi asked Misty, who shrugged her shoulders.

"I… don't know"

(They don't seem like they want to hurt us. Maybe they've turned over a new leaf) Pikachu told him. (I highly doubt it but I still don't trust them. we should have a short-term truce, like the one we had on the S.S Anne. But if they lead us to wherever Ash is and trick us, I'll shock them real well)

Misty nodded at this and then got up to face Jessie while James was looking around for something in the balloon's basket She looked Jessie in the eyes, held out her hand and said, "For now, we'll have a temporary truce. No tricks of any sort or I'll hand you over to Officer Jenny after Pikachu Thunderbolts you faster than you can recite your stupid motto. Deal?"

Jessie held out her own hand and shook Misty's as she said, "Deal"

"Here it is! I knew it was here!" James exclaimed as he found what he was looking for and walked toward them.

When he reached Pikachu, he knelt down and opened his left hand. There was a pill in the middle. The tiny, circular pill was a grayish color and Pikachu could make out the words TM # 50 written in the middle.

Jessie and Meowth peered over James' shoulder and when they saw the pill, their faces turned white as snow. "James, how did you get that? Surely it cost plenty?" Jessie whispered.

"Did ya steal it from a trainer?" Meowth asked. The mouse knew the pill had to be something valuable. "Cause if ya did, ya could have stolen some more items fer us to sell. Are ya sure dat one dat teaches-"?

James turned & faced him with such an intense facial expression the cat shut up stat. "I have my ways. No, Meowth, I did not steal it." he then turned back to Pikachu.

(What is it?) The mouse asked.

"Something that hopefully, will help save the twerp and all of us."

(Are you sure about this?) Pikachu didn't know whether to trust him or not.

"Ya want to rescue dat annoyin' twoip, don't ya" Meowth asked him.

He nodded resisting the urge to accidently shock the cat. (Don't call him that Meowth- he has a name. And of course I want to save Ash)

" This will give you an ability to do so. Swallow it." James told Pikachu, who took it with one paws and put it into his mouth. It had a nasty taste to it but he swallowed it. His head felt fuzzy for a minute, like there was a Beedrill buzzing around in it.

(What was that? How come my head feels fuzzy?)

"It's a rare move called Substitute. Your brain is just processing how to use it. It will be a part of the plan". James motioned for the others to huddle around them. "Here is the plan..."

**Scene change Scene change Scene change Scene change Scene change Scene change Scene change**

Ash was quietly crying the next day when he saw Lawrence make a call, so he stopped so he could listen. A dark shadow appeared on the computer screen.

"So," a voice that made his blood run cold spoke. "How does the plan go?"

"Perfect, Giovanni"

"I assume those fools should be there soon"

"Should be..."

(Ash! Ash!) That voice! Ash stopped listening to Lawrence and the other man. Only one pokémon Ash knew called him that. 'It can't be him, could it?' Then he heard another voice, a female human one.

"We're going to get you out of there, Ash. Just stay put and don't do anything stupid."

"Misty?" Ash muttered to him even though he knew it was she. No one else insulted him like she did, which Ash guessed, was her way of flirting with him. He got up off the floor and positioned himself next to the small window with bars on the wall.

(We're over here! over here!) The first voice repeated, a bit louder this time. It had to be Pikachu! It just had to be him!

"What are ya tryin' ta do, blow our cover, ya stupid rate? Dat isn't part of da plan! Yer supposed ta stay quiet an' hidden in here after ya do yer ting!" Ash heard Meowth tell Pikachu. "Yer' gonna get us caught just like dat tw-YEEEOOOOW!" Meowth yelled as Pikachu bit his tail, which shut him up.

He looked out the small cell-like window and saw the familiar Meowth-head shaped balloon. As it got closer, he could see Pikachu, jumping up and down on the basket's ledge shouting his name. He waved a paw at Ash so he waved back. Ash wanted to reach out and hold Pikachu in his arms and feel his soft, yellow fur rub against his skin.

Suddenly a blast of fire came from the ship's bottom and attacked the balloon, destroying it. As they fell through the air, a long hose came out and sucked Misty, Pikachu, Togepi, and Team Rocket up like dust being sucked up by a vacuum. Ash turned around to face Lawrence who had ended his call and had been watching them. "Right on time." He got out of his chair and pushed a button on a remote in his hands. The ceiling above Ash opened up and Togepi, Pikachu, Meowth, James and Jessie fell into his cell onto the floor. "Nice of you to drop in." Lawrence said as he pushed a different button and the ceiling closed up again.

(ash!) Pikachu cried out as he jumped into Ash's open arms.

"Pikachu!" he gave Pikachu a huge hug. "I'm glad you're here. I've been so worried about you, pal, but now I know you're safe," He laughed as Pikachu affectionately but lightly shocked him.

XxX

Misty landed on the floor outside the cage with a hard THUD. As Pikachu lightly shocked him, Ash caught her eyes for a minute and nodded the meaning was obvious: get us out of this cage as quickly as you can.

She got up off the floor and looked around. There on the armrest of a black chair in the middle of the room was a remote with buttons on it. "Bingo." She said to herself as she walked up to it.

'That was easy. Too easy' she thought as she got to the chair and started to reach down to get it. As she was about to grab it a strong arm grabbed her and spun her around.

Lawrence's voiced hissed in her ear. " I wouldn't do that if I were you. " She gulped. " Look down girlie ". She looked down and saw a knife, sharp as a Scyther's blade and cold as ice, under her throat. She couldn't help it- she screamed.

Pikachu felt like the happiest pokémon in the world right then. It was such a frabjous moment. He was back with the one person he belonged with, Ash- Pikapi, his Pikapi. Pikachu stopped shocking him but Ash kept stroking his fur as if to make sure that that he was not an illusion while Pikachu happily licked his face. Tears fell onto his fur from his face. "I was so frightened, pal. I thought I lost you"

(Me too. I thought you were gone when I saw the empty bed.)

"Its okay. I'm right here." Ash reassured Pikachu but his voice was lacking something, confidence and Pikachu had brought the very thing that would bring it back.

(Ash, I brought your hat) he said as he jumped on to the floor and went over to Togepi, who put the hat in his paws. Pikachu then jumped back into his arms.

Ash took it from him and put it on his head. "Thanks pal."

A loud scream echoed in the room. (Daddy, that man has Mommy!) Togepi pointed fearfully at Lawrence, who was holding his knife under Misty's throat.

"Somebody help me!" she cried out.

Pikachu jumped from Ash's arms onto the floor and began to charge himself up to shock Lawrence but he thrust Misty in front of his body, like a shield as she struggled to release herself without getting cut. "Go on rat, make your move. If you do, you risk having the blade slip into her throat. I'll cut the boy's throat open next. Shock me, I dare you" Lawrence pressured. His eyes dashed from Misty's frightened expression to back Lawrence. "Make your choice,"

The mouse looked back at Misty, who bit her lip, looked at him. (I…. I can't. I won't hurt you)

"No. My life's not worth it. "

(Yes it is) he told her. He didn't want Lawrence to hurt her, so he shook his head. (I won't hurt my friend. Let her go) Pikachu looked sad as he said this.

Lawrence grinned. He found Pikachu's weakness, for although he couldn't grasp the pokemon's words, his body language was enough evidence. His fur had stopped charging and now lay flat, his tail was drooping and his facial expression looked defeated.

He knew he had to take advantage of this victory fast .He stared at Jessie and James as they began to move in front of Pikachu, so as to hide him. "Don't try to fool me." They stood there, frozen. "I know that you idiots were planning on betraying me to rescue him." Ash felt Lawrence's eyes burn into his head as the psycho stared briefly at him then turned his gaze back to James, Meowth and Jessie, who gulped. "Oh yes. I know. I'll give you one last chance. Your boss won't like to hear how you bungled even this up. I won't tell if you get that rat. Don't just stand there! Grab it, you downright idiots!" Lawrence yelled at Jessie, meowth and James.

They were standing in a trance-like state, eyes dashing from him to the knife under Misty's throat back to him again. They snapped out of it. " Sorry ta do this to ya twoip" Jessie and meowth mouthed. The three tried to grab Pikachu but he was too fast for them. Meowth sighed as he watched Jessie and James try to catch the speedy mouse as he ran around the cage and pulled his claws out.

"Pathetic. If ya want something done, ya gotta do it yerself," He muttered. Then he stuck out his claws and as Pikachu ran past Meowth, the sharp claws slashed his tail. It felt like someone ripped it clean off! The pain was so great that he was forced to stop. He lay on the floor, blood spilling out of his tail, which was now red, onto the floor.

"We're finally get you, Pikachu" James, Jessie, Meowth and Wobbufet, who had popped out of its pokéball, laughed as they moved closer and closer to the spot where Pikachu lay on the floor. The mouse panted for breath trying not to whimper at the pain. He had survived scrapes, bruises, Spearow attacks, and domino's metal rings and much more but this pain was totally agonizing. 'Double- crossing snake hearted idiots. '

"Ya ready ta come wid us now?" Meowth snickered, the tips of his claws covered in blood from Pikachu's tail.

(Two words for you, Meowth: HELL NO!) Pikachu shouted, as he unleashed a gigantic Thunder attack at them.

"Counter attack, Wobbufet!" Jessie commanded.

(Yes mam). Wobbefett's body began to glow purple. The Thunder Pikachu sent them turned around just as it was about to hit them and hit him with double the force of the original attack.

(AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!) He yelled and he heard Ash cry his name out as he was flung to the back of the cage. He hit the ship's steel-hard walls on his right shoulder. The pain shot through his entire body and his shoulder felt like it had gone through three brick walls in a row The little mouse fell to the floor in a heap. Ash was by his side in an instant.

"Pikachu! Are you okay?"

(I think so-Ow, my tail!) He winced as he tried to stand up but his injured tail weighed him down.

Ash knelt down next to him and surveyed the damage. "Meowth's claws ripped right through the skin and it's bleeding real badly. Can you move it at all?" he asked his pokemon,

He who tried to lift it but the pain was too much. he shook his head . (It hurts too much to move and my right shoulder feels like three Steelixs Slammed it)

"I don't think I can use you in any battles until we get to the nearest Pokémon Center" he said.

(That's fine with me.) Pikachu said, trying to ignore the pain. Then four shadows fell over them. They both looked up. Jessie, Meowth, James and Wobbufet had surrounded them, cutting off any escape routes. (Traitors) he muttered under his breath. (I knew we shouldn't have trusted them)

"We ain't lettin' ya go unless you give us dat mouse." Meowth gleamed at Pikachu as he told Ash this.

The teen ignored the cat's threat as he picked up the mouse gingerly, getting blood from the wound on his hands in the process and held him tenderly against his chest. He then looked Meowth straight in the eye and said, "When onix sprout wings like Pidgeys and fly, Meowth. He's hurt and in no condition to fight. I got to get him to a Pokémon Center fast and nobody is going to get in my way. If you want Pikachu, you have to get past me first."

Then right as he was about to unclip Noctowl's pokéball from his belt, Lawrence's cold voice stopped him.

"Don't even try, boy. If you make any sudden moves, the girl gets it." Lawrence told him.

"Things can't get any worse than this," Ash muttered under his breath but no sooner had he finished saying this, Psyduck popped out of his pokéball and appeared outside of the cage. "Me and my big mouth" he added.

XxX

Psyduck looked around after he had completely materialized from his pokéball and waddled over to the cage where everyone with but Misty was.

(Lets see) he said as he looked up at the people and pokémon in the cage as he counted on his fingers. (There are the dimwits who couldn't catch a Kakuna if their lives depended on it)

"I hoid dat, ya dumb dopey duck! We aren't dat dumb! You're da dumb, stupid one" Meowth yelled but Psyduck ignored it.

(And there's Ash and Pikachu and Togepi. That makes uh, um Four?) He finished. Everyone in the cage fell onto the floor. It figured Psyduck couldn't count!

Togepi walked over to the cage bars. (No, six) He corrected Psyduck. (But turn around. Mommy's in trouble) he said fearfully.

(Huh? what do you mean?) He asked. But he saw nothing but fear in their eyes.

"Please. Help…." The water type heard his trainer gasp. He slowly turned around. He saw a cream-haired man with ringlets had a knife under Misty's throat. He was taller than her and he glared at Psyduck as if daring him to attack. His eyes, which were a Gyarados blue, seemed not to care if he hurt or killed anyone. Psyduck looked from Lawrence to the knife under Misty's throat to the expression on her face. He saw that she was beyond terrified.

'I gotta save her ' he thought but another thought came into his head: how in the Pokégods' names am –I - the only Psyduck in the world who couldn't swim or use his powers on my own- supposed to save his trainer?

(I can try to) he thought out loud.

" But How can you?" a voice in his head inquired of him.

(Huh? What do you mean? Who or what are you?) Psyduck asked the voice, not realizing he had said this part out loud.

"I'm not telling you what I am, you stupid duck except i live in you so in effect I AM you " the voice sneered. " you heard meowth- you are stupid and weak "

(Not weak or dumb) he mumbled.

"Oh yes you are. Everybody knows it " The unseen voice responded back in a matter of fact tone.

'I-I can do Confusion and Disable' he thought.

'Yeah right. Only when you have an enormous headache and without it all you can do is a pathetic Tail Whip and a stinky Scratch attack ' the voice laughed coldly. Psyduck felt horrible because he knew that it was totally true. 'Face it! Nobody likes or wants you! You are disgrace to all water types, even the great guardian he. You are so weak and wimpy a magicarp is stronger than you. Why that trainer of yours has abandoned-"

The duck slammed his repeatedly head into the cage bars. (Get out of my head! I'm- not- stupid! I'm not weak! You're wrong) he yelled at the voice over repeatedly as he began running around the room and hitting himself against the walls as if to push the voice out of his head. (You're wrong! I'm not weak)

No one else heard what the strange voice was telling him but everyone but Lawrence could hear his replies. Lawrence, who couldn't understand pokemon, laughed, "Isn't that a pathetic sight?" he asked Misty. "That stupid duck of doesn't realize what's going on. It's so dim-witted it's trying to make an exit by banging it's head on the wall despite we are over a thousand feet above the ground and the ship's walls are stronger than steel. If it succeeds, it'll save me the trouble of killing it. It doesn't seem to even care or know that I could kill you with one simple swipe. It can't do anything. It's utterly brainless-"

Misty knew that it was up to Psyduck to save her. She had to make him believe in himself and soon. 'That does it! I can't bear this anymore. ' She thought. "Psyduck! Listen to me!" she commanded, cutting Lawrence off, she needed to get to him. "Ignore him and the voice in your head. Please. Psyduck. "

(Huh?) He paused, stopped beating himself up and looked up toward his trainer's voice. He was getting bruised and a little bit of a headache. Misty was begging him to listen to her- that was a first.

. "I know I haven't been the greatest trainer to you. But please, listen to me. Don't listen to that voice in your head or to Lawrence! You are smart! You saved the Fuchsia gym's pokémon from Team Rocket all by yourself You went right for help that time in Celadon City when Team Rocket gave me that nasty makeover and wouldn't let me go -"

"You had to bring that up, didn't you brat?" Jessie, who returned Wobbuffet said loudly.

Misty ignored her and continued. "I'm sorry i called you stupid and dumb all those times. You aren't dumb at all, I know you have great potential deep inside you"

Psyduck was amazed at this: she had never paid him that great of a compliment. . 'She really believes in me' he thought. 'Even though I can't use Confusion and Disable by myself. She doesn't think i'm lame at all '

She continued, her voice shaky, "-but it's your fear that's holding you back. You have that power inside within you. But you're scared. You're scared that you won't be able to do it the right way and I'll-I'll a-a-abandon y-you. That's not true. I would never do that. I don't mind that you are different. You can do it. I just know you can. All you have to do is find a way to unlock it. I know you can. Y-you're the only one who can -"

**WHAM!**

Everyone's jaws fell. Lawrence used the hand not holding the knife to her neck to brutally slap her across the left side of her face. "Shut up brat! It can't understand you. It's a mindless, useless creature that deserves to die," he growled. She turned her face and everyone saw there was a huge swollen slap mark on it!

Psyduck felt rage boil up his blood, He'd seen and heard enough. He looked down at his webbed hands. 'I'll try a Slash attack' he thought as he raised his webbed hands up and ran at Lawrence. (Leave her be!) He cried but Lawrence cut the duck's head with his knife and kicked the pokemon to one side of the room.

"No! Psyduck! Psyduck " Misty cried. As he got up Psyduck felt blood roll down his head into his eyes from his forehead where Lawrence slashed him, blinding his vision.

She squirmed away from the knife and tried to run to him, but Lawrence grabbed her right arm. "Let go of me!" she cried, fear in her voice. "Can't you see he's hurt badly?"

Lawrence glared down at her. " why should i? you made me lose Lugia. I saw you through the telescope talking to that island girl and the boy at the shrine. I was so close and then you had to save him and ruin my destiny! I'm not letting you ruin my plans again even if I have to get rid of you and the boy … permanently. Lugia will be mine and then my destiny will be complete."

XxX

Psyduck was furious. How dare this strange man blame Misty of destroying his destiny! He knew that she wasn't that kind of person. whatever this lugia thing was must be important. 'A powerful water type legendary' a thought appeared in his head.

_How dare he accuse Misty_! She wasn't that kind of person. he knew that deep down inside she cared for him. He didn't even seem to care that he was hurting her and threatening to kill her. _It's like he's enjoying this! _ That was it for the duck. He wasn't be the smartest water type but even I had a breaking point. No one threatened Misty and got away with it

(I TOLD YOU BEFORE TO LET US GO FREE AND LEAVE HER ALONE!) he bellowed. Before anyone knew what was happening, instinct took over and the duck ran up and slashed Lawrence's hand, drawing blood.

he howled with rage. He kicked Psyduck hard again and he was tossed back a few feet away. Misty used this as a distraction to free herself from his grip and ran over to her injured pokemon .

'Psyduck! Are you okay?" she asked.

he slowly nodded. (I. Think so)

"What happened to your injuries? I thought he slashed you. "

(Huh?) he slowly got up and felt his head but there wasn't a cut anymore. _That's strange. _(I... don't know) something strange was occurring inside him .

I clutched my head with my webbed fingers. (My aching head. something's off about it.)

Misty held him protectively against her chest. "Psyduck oh, my Psyduck" she whispered. "Y-y-you just s-saved my life. Thank you. You were so brave to do stand up to Lawrence like that." Misty whispered

'She called me brave'. Psyduck couldn't believe what she just said. (I did what any pokemon would do in that situation) he replied, blushing and she smiled for a few seconds.

He saw her face go pale as Lawrence - reached for the knife on the other side of the room her whole body was shaking. I had never seen her seen her this scared or terrified. He also felt her heart thumping fast as her body shook. "Lawrence's crazy. He's gonna kill me 'cause I tried to free everyone then he's going to kill everyone since we know too much starting -" she stopped and bit her lip.

He quickly looked over at Ash in the cage. I knew who she was talking about but I didn't want to say anything. (Me). She looked down, amazed (Just because I saved you and I stood up to him when he was gonna kill you. Lawrence wants to kill you cause you figured out that Ash was the one i was going to help Lugia and save the world two years ago. Lugia keeps the three titan's powers in harmony)

She nodded. "How did you know all that?"

He shrugged (I dunno. I just did). Something was changing inside and to be honest he liked it.

(Psyduck, please) Togepi begged quietly from the cage. (Please save mommy from the bad man. You're our only hope)

XxX

The next few seconds seemed like an eternity to Misty. Her heart pounded even faster than before.

(Mommy! The bad man's getting closer!) Togepi cried out from the cell. Indeed, the man was less than two and half feet away from us now.

Psyduck looked over at the people and pokemon in the cage- they were shaking with fear, too terrified to do anything. What ever was changing in him was giving him more clarity as to the situation. 'Even if they could call their pokemon out to save us, it would be too late'

(Psyduck, you got to save mommy and us, you're the only one who can) Togepi said before going over to Ash and Pikachu.

The voice in his head and Togepi were both right. It was time for to make a stand. He had watched this man brutally hurt Misty and had had enough! No more mr. nice duck.

(They're right. it's up to me and me alone to save her) he said to myself, as Lawrence got closer.

He got of Misty's arms. " Psyduck? "

( I know what I have to do) He told her. He knew he had to act quickly so he got up, walked a few feet away and stood facing Lawrence

Misty gulped. " what are you doing?".

(Let us all go free now or else) he said. The man did not seem to understand him.

"Time to die, duck! You first then the girl!" was the man's reply. He was less than a foot away now, the knife ready to strike me.

(Psyduck, watch out!)Pikachu warned.

"What's yer duck doin', twoip? It's going to get sliced like a piece of bread" Meowth asked Misty, who was to o horror struck to reply.

(Okay, You asked for it) he whispered as he closed his eyes.

" get away from there!" Misty yelled out. "Lawrence is my goodness"

Her warning was cut off after he suddenly re-opened his eyes. Instead of his vacant like expression his eyes were focused on Lawrence in a very serious way.

His eyes turned blue as he used his Confusion and Disable attacks. First he stopped Lawrence in his tracks with Disable just as the knife was two inches from his head. Psyduck sent out blue rings of light that froze Lawrence in mid-air as a blue outline covered his body.

His trainer's jaw dropped. 'This … can't be happening. ' She thought. Lawrence was freaking out. "What's happening? Why can't I move?" he panicked as Psyduck lifted him off the floor with Confusion. He held him in mid-air and threw him across the room, the blade falling out of Lawrence's hands. Psyduck's eyes went back to normal.

Misty was amazed at what he had just done. "Psyduck I -" she began. Suddenly in front of everyone a bright white light covered the small yellow duck.

XxX

"Psyduck, it's… evolving. I don't believe it." Jessie commented as the light around Psyduck grew as his body changed

" Neither csm I, Jessie." Ash told her as he watched Psyduck grow.

"Dat's scary, jess " Meowth said. "You and da twoip tinkin' da same tings. Next ting ya know, you'll be dressin' 'exactly like 'im and den-" James then hit him over the head.

XxX

Psyduck felt his body changing as he evolved. And he gladly embraced it, growing in both size and intelligence. Once the light had disappeared, he looked down at his new form turned to face Misty. He saw tears running down her face (I-I evolved and I used my powers on my own) he told her in a deeper voice. He then lifted the cage up with his new psychic powers setting everyone free.

XxX Xx

Misty was awestruck: She was so happy yet still couldn't believe it nor could she move . It was such a frabjous moment-: he used his psychic powers on his own without needing a huge headache then evolved . He really did care about her.

"Psyduck- I mean golduck used his powers on his own to save us." She couldn't stop admiring him. Here was her own Golduck, a Pokémon she wanted since she was little. He was covered in Nidoqueen-blue colored feathers, which replaced the dull yellow feathers of his Psyduck stage. The small, circular jewel on his forehead shone was a bright red it hurt her eyes to look at it. At one hundred sixty nine pounds and standing at five feet seven inches, he was much bigger than his old body and. in her eyes he was the handsomest pokémon she had seen yet.

He was bending his powerful muscles but then she saw Lawrence get up off the floor, knife in one hand and get behind the newly evolved pokemon's back . "Golduck, look out!" she cried as Lawrence lifted the knife he had clutched in one hand

she was too late to warn him and watched in horror as the knife struck. "Die duck!"

(What the -AAARRRGGGGHHH!) He screamed as Lawrence drew a long red scar down the duck's back with the knight. Red liquid spurted out as he fell to the floor, out cold.

"Please No. " she stared at his body, her mouth wide open. 'Don't be dead. Don't be dead' she thought hard.

"Misty." Ash called out. " I don't think he's dead. He's just knocked out- his chest is still raising up and down. " He pointed out

Lawrence kicked Golduck aside like a dirty napkin "That takes care of that." He said then fixed his gaze on the terrified humans and Pokemon. "All of you listen up: obey me or else. Anyone else defies me, I'll kill you one by one, starting with that one," he glared, pointed at the knocked out duck with a crazed look in his eyes. No one had the nerve to stand up to him; they were petrified of what he might do.

XxX XxX

Soon Jessie, James and Misty were tied up tightly while Meowth and Togepi were in tiny cages near them. Lawrence had Ash, who was lying on the floor next to him, tied up so tightly the young trainer couldn't move. Luckily Pikachu fled when he had his back turned while he was getting the ropes and cages. Ash placed him down the ground and told him to run and find a place to escape. Lawrence was down right furious.

"Where is it?" he snarled at the group and fixed his eyes on Misty and walked toward her. She was sweating beads of sweat big as Ultra Balls as he approached her, bent down on one knee and put the blood-splattered knife under her chin. "Tell me where that rat is if you value life." He pressured her.

She glanced at Golduck's limp form across the room, her heart beating in her throat, 'Would He really kill him? I wouldn't put it past him'. "I-I don't know," she admitted.

He raised his free hand into the air as if to slap her across the face again. "You're lying, you little b-" she waited for the blow, but it never came.

(Don't hurt mommy, you big bully! If I wasn't trapped then I would go over and stomp on your foot) Togepi cried out from his pen as he attempted to Headbutt it open but failed.

She let out a long breath and then looked over at Togepi, amazed at what he had just said. "Why did you say that, Togepi?"

(I don't want anyone to hurt you. I'd do anything to make you don't gets hurt)

"Thanks. You just saved my life." Misty said.

Lawrence, who listened to her reply removed the knife from her throat and lowered his hand. A minute passed. He grinned evilly as he stood up; walked back over to where Ash lay on the floor knelt back down so they were face to face.

"Thanks to your girlfriend here-"- her face went the hue of a cherry when he said "girlfriend", "I know how to get that little rat here " Lawrence put his knife under Ash's throat. "Make it come back."

"N-No."

"What do you mean by no, boy?" Lawrence questioned

"I-I mean no. I' m not going to l-lure him b-back so you can stuff him in a c-cage " he replied. Misty detected panic in his usually assured voice since he was choking on his words. "I don't see why e-everyone w-wants him. He doesn't have shiny fur or anything different that m-makes him different f-from o-other Pikachus. Can't you get your own? Why do you even want him in the f-first place if I'm the person who prevented you from getting L-Lugia?

Lawrence removed the blade from His throat, seized his hat off his head, stood up and held it high in the air. Then in front of them he sliced it to ribbons.

"

Not my lucky hat" Ash said as the red and white pieces of fabric fell in the air onto the floor one by one. Within a matter of minutes his lucky hat had been reduced to nothing more than slices of fabric it seemed that Ash's self-confidence was destroyed along with the hat.

Misty looked over at his crushed facial expression. 'His lucky hat, ruined. I can only imagine how much that hurt him"

"I could kill you as easily as I slashed that thing," Lawrence pointed at the fabric with distain like it was a pack of Muks. Ash bit back tears .His lucky limited edition Pokèmon League hat, torn to shreds. he smiled evilly as he knelt back down to face Ash. "As for why I need it, why should I spoil it?" he made a cut on Ash's throat near a line of dried blood with the knife.

Misty saw dots of red splash onto the floor but her crush didn't say anything Lawrence smirked as he removed the knife and put it against the terrified teen' s cheek. "Tell it to come back now or else!" he hissed as he made a line. Ash let out a loud hair-raising scream.

**Scene change Scene change Scene change Scene change Scene change Scene change Scene change**

'Gotta be a way out' Pikachu ran fast as he could down a long curved hallway- he had searched nearly the whole ship,

He almost ran past a large window but instead of running past he stopped in front of it, to catch his breath. He looked through it and saw a huge black helicopter parked on a launch pad next to the ship with a big red R painted on the side. An umber-haired man with a Persian got out of the jet and looked right at him. Something about this man terrified him out of his fur- there was something about that human he didn't like

. He ran away from that window as fast as he could into the nearest room and tried to catch his breath. In the middle of the large room was a huge computer that was flashing a holographic picture of Ash on its screen with something written under it. He moved closer to read it. (Target: Chosen One. Real name: Ash Ketch-) Pikachu started but before he could go on, he heard a blood-curling scream and his ears perked up.

'He is in trouble. ' A second scream pierced the air.

"Come out from wherever you are. I have these apples just for you" Lawrence called" I won't hurt' -"

"Don't listen to him, Pikachu!" Ash pleaded. "Get everybody else out of here. At the very least get off this ship Forget me. It's my fault I dragged you all into-"

"There's nowhere to hide on this ship" Lawrence interrupted.

"I know what his plan is! "

"If you come back now, I'll let you and him go " Lawrence called

"Don't come back! D-don't worry about me" Ash cried.

"Shut up!" Lawrence supposed. "You're not supposed to blab!"

"It's a trap!

Lawrence laughed. "You can't see him if you don't come back"

"Once you come back He is gonna stuff you in a cage and wait -

"I said to shut your mouth, you filthy brat!" Lawrence slapped him hard.

The mouse was torn, he needed his help but how was he going to save ash without endangering himself? There was something different in his voice, something he was lacking. 'It's like he lost his confidence or- or'-. It hit the little mouse hard (No. His hat!)

It was what ash considered his lucky charm. In fact the only way pikachu got ash to go to Fire island two years ago was by taking his hat and playing keep-away until he agreed. Pikachu knew Without much confidence Lawrence would bully him to talk...maybe even get Ash to tell him where the Fire, Ice and Lightning treasures were!

(I have to save him) he told himself. There was another loud scream. 'How am I going to rescue him and the others without Lawrence seeing me?' he thought. (But it's not like I can clone myself-wait a minute!)

He recalled what James had said about the weird pill he gave him the previous day at the Gym: "If you need to trick Lawrence to free the twerp, just concentrate hard. He'll think that your substitute is you, at least until it fades away."

'I hope this plan' he thought as he concentrated. Instantly there was another pikachu, right down to the injured tail, next to him. He felt as if half his energy was gone (go to the man with the knife.) he told the clone this. It nodded and ran toward Lawrence's voice,

Once it left, he waited a few minutes before he sniffed the air with his nose and found the scent. He tracked the scent down slowly; shocking security cameras along the way with weak Thundershocks, so Lawrence wouldn't find out that the mouse he had wasn't real

He found himself at the back of the room he came from. Lawrence had trapped his copy into a cage and was now boasting about it to Ash, who thought the mouse in the cage was he.

Out of the corner of his eye as he snuck toward the humans, he glanced at his friend and almost let out a cry. There was a. swollen slap mark on one side as well as a red line on his cheek. Under his jaw there were two thin lines of dried blood. There were little cuts on his arms where Lawrence's knife had hacked into the flesh. He longed to help Ash but he couldn't risk blowing the plan. Ash had to believe that his clone was he or else all was lost.

Pikachu saw his copy flicker inside the cage and knew he didn't have much time left. So he went behind the ropes binding the humans and started chewing it loose with his teeth. He looked up and saw that his duplicate was buying him some time by biting the cage's bars with its teeth while Lawrence was laughing at its pathetic attempts to free itself. "Can't you get dat rope off faster?" Meowth asked Misty, James and Jessie from his cage as they tried.

"We're trying but it's too tight," Misty admitted sadly.

"Stupid slow humans" Meowth muttered. "If I wasn't in dis cage I would slashed dem ropes apart"

"What's that about stupid, slow humans Meowth?" She glared at him.

(look) Togepi said from his cage as the ropes binding the humans fell to the ground, freeing them. Misty turned and saw Pikachu, catching his breath and looking tired, behind her. Lawrence hadn't become aware of this yet.

"Pikachu" she mouthed. "Is that really you? It's not your substitute"

(Course... it's me) he panted. (You think i'd. want to, get caught)

She gave him a huge hug. "If you're here, then the one in the cage be the fake. Looks like Jessie, Meowth and James' plan worked ... for once."

Narrator: Talk about an exciting ending! Pikachu freed Misty and Team Rocket, but how can they save Ash with Lawrence right there? Who was the man in the helicopter? More in the exciting conclusion!

To be continued.

Author's notes: bet no one saw Psyduck's evolution coming! I guessed it would take something like that to get him going plus I wanted him to have his time to shine. Could you believe TR actually them helped out? The part when ash sees Pikachu, who waves & he returns the wave is homage to 2002's **_Lilo and Stitch_**. Aren't I evil, ending it in a cliffhanger like that

Meowth: yeah, ya sure are evil, WC.

James: Can you believe what she did?

Jessie: Now our reputation will be ruined since we actually helped the twerps in the story!

Meowth: what will our loyal fans tink of dis?

WC: {gets a mallet and pounds them flat}: Listen you dimwits your fans won't think anything less of you after this story.

Meowth: but we're da bad guys! We aren't da-

WC {bears her claws at him}: I could use you for a scratching post. Considering how I control what happens, you'd better not question my authority or its target practice time. Understand, {Glares at them}

James, Jessie and Meowth {cowering}: yes, mam

Meowth: does dat mean we're going to get a bigger part in yer next story?

WC: chill out {uses Ice Punch to put them in ice}How will everyone escape? Will Lawrence see he has a fake Pikachu? ? Check out the next part if you want to know the answers to those questions

To be continued


	3. part 2a

Pokémon the Movie 2000 II: Lawrence's Revenge Part 2a by WyldClaw

Plot: here is the second part of my long story . yet agia: I don't own Pokémon or any of the characters( asides Lawrence's fabricated surname) never did and never will. Wish I did but who doesn't? I will put out any flames I get with my hydro pump and. Brock isn't in this story but there is a bit of a cameo by a legendary near the end of the story. if you want to find out, you will have to read it . I don't know the last name of the baddie in it, so I've given him the last name of Juardian Le Villiyon - a pun on the words 'the villain', .Don't use it without my consent or tigerstar will be sent after you . Readers may remember this story from years ago but I am giving it a much needed touch up. This part has Ash and misty love, blood, violence, evolution and possible death of a character So its rated PG-13 . Warning, there's a sad part near the end of the second part , so you might want a few tissues nearb Pokédex entry which I don't own, is in bold. I also don't own the flashback lines from _Electric Shock Showdown_. The Pokédex entry is from Electric Shock Showdown. Lawrence can't understand Pokemon asides from Meowth because he's the only one who can speak human ... or is he? The other things to keep in mind are: " " are humans talking while Scene change is just that. Italics are flashbacks. Mommy and Daddy are Togepi's names for Misty and Ash. He has trouble saying words that start with rs, so he says those words with a 'w' sound. ' ' Are thoughts and () are translate Pokéspeech. There are a few exceptions: 1 that Meowth translates it, another since it would be very vulgar, 1 is a cry of pain and once where you'll have to use your imagination. I greatly recommend that you read the first part before reading this part. Please read and review. Thanks! On with the story !

Xxx. Xxx 

Recap: When we last left our poor trapped heroes, the Lugia-obsessed mad Lawrence Juardian Le Villiyon II had them trapped on his ship where he tried to kill Misty but psyduck evolved to save her life . Thanks to a TM James gave him Pikachu was able to use Substitute, a rare move where the Pokémon using it makes an exact replica of itself for a bit, although it drains their energy by half. He has triumphantly freed Misty, James, Meowth, and Jessie and Togepi with his double being trapped in a cage by Lawrence, who thinks that he has the real one. Let's find out what happens next!

XxX XxX XxX

Pikachu held back tears as he viewed the reunion between Misty and Togepi as she freed him from his incarceration. (Mommy!) He squealed happily as she picked him up with both arms. "Togepi." she said as she hugged him tight, afraid that Lawrence would hurt him if she let go.

"What a sweet reunion. It makes me sick" . A sardonic voice came from next to Lawrence, who had his knife against Ash's throat he was being forced to stand up since both his arms and legs were tied tightly with thick bands of rope.

The voice belonged to a slick umber-haired man whose voice made Pikachu's blood run ice cold. Misty stood up in front of him as the man looked toward them, eyes like a searchlight, looking for him. he peered his eyes around Misty's jeans and nearly cried out with horror as his eyes went wide. the man's voice and physical shape were the same as the one who broke into the gym. There was no doubt about it- it was the same human.

The human was dressed in a red suit and a tie held a cage in one hand. he had an atmosphere of evilness around him. he seemed to smell fear, like a Growlithe as he scanned the room with his eyes and then settled on Meowth, James and Jessie. By the man's side sat a well-groomed Persian, who hissed at Meowth, who had gotten out of his cage. He gulped as well as Jessie and James. They all trembled at the man, who looked at them angrily. This gave Pikachu the hint man was their boss- the one that they kept trying to impress.

"uh hi boss" meowth nervously chucked.

'By mew's tail! It's person they kept on trying to trap me for . How am I going to save my trainer if their boss sees me? ' the mouse thought hard and then it hit him.

"cut the Tarous crap, cat . Where did you idiots hide it? I know it's here. I saw it with my own eyes.." he asked them angrily chewing them out while Pikachu was using his Agility to get Ash away from Lawrence

XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX

Even before meowth said anything Ash knew this man had to be Jessie and James' boss, Giovanni, the man Lawrence called earlier. ' I'm in deep danger now' he thought .

"...Can't believe I thought you three dunces wouldn't mess it up for once ! I know it's here . So where is it?"

" we... Don't know where it went" James said.

" we were gonna try ta cage him fer ya, boss. An' we almost got 'im . but he fought back me an' escaped befer we could do anything. " Meowth showed his boss his red stained claws. The teen noticed there was fear or something in the cat's eyes . ' did Lawrence tell Giovanni the truth about them?' He thought.

" you couldn't even catch it? You-a cat- couldn't catch a measly mouse ? Persian would have tracked down that rat within a matter of seconds . " meowth flinched at his leader's words.

He went on but the teenager wasn't paying attention now. he had seen a glimpse of something-rather someone- yellow with a bloody tail slowly making his way from behind Misty's pant legs . 'It couldn't be ... Could it?'. His eyes found hers and he mouthed "Is that ."

She nodded. " how-" he mouthed as the mouse picked up speed.

" explain later ." She mouthed back

. Ash saw Pikachu getting closer to him, a speedy yellow-red blur, his hopes rising. 'please don't let Giovanni see him' he repeatedly prayed. 'Come on, buddy.'

Persian hissed at the blur as he jumped into the air to slash the deadly dagger away . Giovanni grabbed him by his neck in midair and held him right under the cage. Ash watched unable to help as Pikachu tried to twist his way out of Giovanni's iron grip. When that failed, he began to charge his energy up but Lawrence put the knife right against Ash's cheek. He saw his own terrified expression in the deadly blade's reflection look back at him

"I wouldn't do that if I were you,," Giovanni told Pikachu, who glared at him. "If you Thundershock me, Lawrence will cut up the boy as a snack for the Tentacruels." He said.

This terrified the mouse , whose eyes went wide with terror as his eyes zipped from Ash to Lawrence to Giovanni and then back to Ash. Ash could tell he desperately wanted to fry Giovanni but on the other hand, Pikachu didn't want Ash to be hurt. He stared at Ash with his two small black eyes. Ash nodded . the sparks coming out of the two electrical sacks on his cheeks came up to a stop. Lawrence removed the knife from Ash's cheeks

"Not so tough now, you miserable rat?" Giovanni laughed as he tied Pikachu's paws together with a rope ,gagged his mouth, and slammed him into the cage. Pikachu whimpered, or as much as he could with the gag over his mouth as he hit the bottom on his injured tail. but Giovanni paid no attention to this as he put his free hand into the cage and slapped Pikachu hard repeatedly all over his face, which finished his cries.

The team rocket leader removed his hand. "Shut up . You're awimp and I absolutely loathe wimps. I thought you'd be impossible to catch according to some people," Giovanni said as he latched the cage shut and glared briefly at Meowth, Jessie and James, who all cringed, "who spoke of your incredible power to me. So much money wasted on traps and ways to get you. all I see when I look at you is a pathetic, softhearted wimp. I know the perfect way to get it out of you and it will also harden you up at the same time. When we get back to my headquarters, I'll make you go through a long, harsh beating session and four days without food will remind you about the order of things." Giovanni sneered.

The mouse's face had already begun to swell like an angry Jigglypuff "Just Quit it" Ash shouted. " Don't hurt my Pikachu! Can't you see he's hurt and needs rest. Let him go!"

The older man stared at the boy with a cold stare. "I don't care if its front legs is broken. I have waited nearly four years to get my hands on this Pikachu. It's mine now and I'll do whatever I want to it. "

Pikachu looked up at his trainer, tears forming in his eyes and Ash knew he felt like he had let him down. His small black eyes were begging him to somehow get him out of there . Ash's own eyes wet with tears. Ash wished that he could get him out of that small prison and hold him, feeling his soft, yellow fur brush up against his face and tell him everything was going to be all right.

Giovanni was smiling evilly , delighted that his plan had succeeded and then turned to face James, Jessie and Meowth, who stared at him like he had sprouted another two heads and Charizard wings. they would go to any length to snag Pikachu but never threaten to kill his trainer " and THAT is how you nab a pesky pikachu" he told his three grunts. " explain why it took you dimwits this long to do something that I did in a matter of minutes. "

Meowth gulped. " Um da ting is boss- is ..he's lots smarter than ya tink"

The leader gazed over at the black haired teen while Pikachu tried to shock the cage open, but wore himself out instead. " Him? Ha! You morons can't do anything right! you should be Ruthless! Merciless and Evil... like Attila, Hun , domino or butch and cassidy" Jessie gritted her teeth at Cassidy's name. " you dolts should have gone for his weakness! "

"but boss… he's just a kid! we couldn't-couldn't..." Jessie trailed off, not wanting to say the rest of her sentence: kill him.

Her boss glowered menacingly at her. "and to think that YOU are Miyamoto's daughter . she was the ideal Rocket agent- she would do anything to fulfill our wishes- even kill witnesses."

The two teens looked at one another- they knew NOTHING about Jessie's past. But the leader's words seemed to freeze Her in place. "Uh Jess?" James asked but no response.

"she ... wouldn't kill…." Jessie managed in a small voice. "I know she wouldn't…"

"Oh, yes she would, without any hesitation. that's right I forgot. You didn't really know her because she abandoned you when you were small to go on a secret mission and ended up getting killed on it too. I thought you had the same spark and spirit as her but I guess I was wrong. be glad I'm in a ... forgiving mood. I'm putting you in charge of keeping the kid from escaping in the helicopter. Even you can't mess that up. Be grateful that you're not getting fired. Tempting as that is..." Giovanni then saw Misty, who was shaking with fear, as if for the first time. "Kill her. She's seen too much to live. Same with that useless togepi. " he told his Persian .

XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. Xx

The cat sprang at her, it's razor sharp teeth bared!

Misty felt like Stun Spore was rooting her feet to the floor. she saw the Persian, its mouth wide open displaying fang like teeth able of digging deep into her skin, run towards her in Sloe motion. 'I'm going to die. I'm gonna die and I'm never going to be able to tell him my true feelings' She thought as the cat ran at her.

(I don't wanna die, Mommy.) Togepi whispered fearfully as he huddled up in Her arms. she felt a pang of guilt. She never told Ash that she was sorry for yelling at him back at the gym but then she saw Golduck, who was standing in front of her, like a shield, a bit wobbly. She saw that there was a long red scar, dripping blood down on his back where the knife had struck him . 'is the pain too much for him?' the redhead thought to herself.

"Can you manage?"

( I .. Think so ) he replied . He closed his eyes, put his webbed fingers together and become very still. A purple light spread from his fingers across his whole body and she saw the blood and the scar disappear from his back until there was just a faint line left. Then the light disappeared

(Wow, I never thought using recover would work to heal my injuries.) He muttered to himself as he opened his eyes and unclasped his webbed fingers. Then he glared at the running Persian. (Now to take care of this fleabag. HOW ABOUT THIS?) He screamed the last part as he opened his mouth and a blue ball of light appeared, a Confuse Ray attack. The beam blasted out from his mouth and hit the cat whose eyes became red as it became confused.

Persian yowled in pain as it thrashed about the room slashing at illusions the Confuse Ray was forcing him to see. He used a Double Kick to send the cage containing Pikachu out of its master's hand. His cage flew through the air, but a bluish tinge covered the cage as Golduck used his psychic power to move the cage away from the confused cat and hover above Misty. Once she put Togepi safely on the ground, the cage landed in her arms and the tinge disappeared, she unlocked the cage, untied Pikachu's paws, took the gag off his mouth and let him out. He looked up and licked her happily on her face

" you okay?"

He nodded as he panted slowly ( just tired from making substitute ... And cage absorbing energy)

"I don't blame you. "

(Pick on someone your own size, you excuse for a flea circus!) Golduck said as he Mega Punched the Persian, who was about to pounce on Togepi with its sharp claws. The cat went flying across the room.

He picked Togepi up and put him in Misty's arms. "Thanks, Golduck" she said and he blushed.

(You saved me) Togepi said to hi

(It was nothing, kiddo) Golduck told him

XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX

While this was happening, Giovanni took Ash from Lawrence and was moving toward his helicopter, waiting outside of the ship Ash saw Misty free Pikachu from the cage, but he felt as useful as a Kakuna.

"Why don't you and I pay a little visit to Pallet Town, Ashton? I can't wait to see Delia's face again. She loves visits from her baby" Giovanni said in a low voice only Ash could hear, "and if she tries to contact the authorities." he drew a finger across Ash's throat as he said this. They stopped walking once they were about ten feet away from the other humans

'How did he know my full name and who in the world was Delia?' he thought and with a jolt like he had been hit with a high powered Thunder attack, he realized that Giovanni was talking about His own mother whose first name was Delia! He gave a small gasp as he was frog marched off to Giovanni's helicopter, which was waiting outside.

By now, Pikachu had noticed what was happening. (Ash! Let him go!) they stopped . he jumped out of Misty's arms onto the floor and walked up to Persian (Move it,) he growled at the cat blocking his path, his fur spiked up and a fierceness in his voice.

( let me think about that pipsqueak ...no. ) The cat, which was no longer confused, used Double Team, that is to say it glowed white and created multiple copies of itself. now there were six more cats surrounding Pikachu in a thick circle leaving him trapped in the middle.

(uh oh) the mouse squeaked

The cats laughed ( prepared to be truly beaten mouse! ) All seven cats' eyes glowed purple for a second.

Pikachu was confused (what's going-) they attacked him without warning slashing at and biting his fur, staining it and the floor red with fur and blood.

The sea of cats devoured Pikachu but Ash caught glimpses of him trying to get out of the mass of creamy fur but each time one of the cats would just pull him back in. Anyone could see it was truly unfair, seven against one and hearing his desperate cries for help, he wished he could do something, anything to help him. Unluckily, both of his hands were tied behind his back so he couldn't reach any of his Pokéballs on his belt. he had to watch this for what seemed like an eternity, but in actuality, was only twenty or so minutes. The air soon became thick with cries, fur and the stench of blood.

Giovanni snapped his fingers once and the pack of Persians broke up into a small circle with a small path to Ash open. In the middle of the circle, he saw an awfully injured form surrounded by the seven motionless cats, which had blood on their fur. The figure was swimming in a large puddle of a mixture of blood and bits of yellow-red and cream fur. It hardly seemed to be breathing. Ash thought it was dead until he saw it breathe and as the form turned its back to him to cough, he saw two stripes on the form's back he had come to recognize. "oh pikachu" . he was stunned as his little Pokémon turned his bruised body around. Everyone but Lawrence and Giovanni were staring in horror at the little mouse . Misty's jaw dropped at the sight. 'What did they do to you?'

It was an awful sight, one that they wouldn't soon forget. The cats had messed Pikachu up so badly he was scarcely identifiable. His yellow fur was covered in scratches, slashes and bite marks. As he made a great effort to get up, Ash saw that places where he had been bitten were dreadfully swollen and in some cases, bleeding as Blood dripped off onto the floor. Pikachu succeeded in getting up and while he was catching his breath Ash saw chunks of fur on his body were missing. There was a huge cut alongside his ribs and he winced as he slowly got up. He looked like he had been forced to fight fifty different pokémon at the same time. In other words, he looked like a nearly unrecognizable mess who seemed about to collapse at the slightest touch.

(Is-is he-)Togepi couldn't finish his question.

(I don't know, Togepi) Golduck told him

"I-I can't believe it. Da boss- he-he tried ta-" Meowth cut off as Misty, Ash, Jessie and James nodded, stunned. There weren't words that could truly describe what they had just seen.

"Come on, Pikachu. You can do it, buddy, I believe in you, just make your way over here. I know you can do it. Just put one paw in front of the other and make your way over here ." he said, loud enough for Pikachu to hear as he tried to make his way to him but the Persians used Screech, drowning out the words to him.

The noise was so awful that it made claws scratching across a blackboard seem like nothing and he wanted to put his hands over his ears to block it out, like everyone else in the room, asides from Giovanni was doing but his hands were restrained behind his back. Then as suddenly as it had begun, the screeching came to a halt. all seven cats briefly gazed angrily at Ash as if they were going to mess him up like they did to Pikachu.

The mouse got about a foot when his injuries became too much for him and he flopped onto the floor. The Persians just sat there as if they were waiting for an unspoken order from Giovanni.

Then as Ash felt a small breeze blow by his feet, he knew what the cats were waiting for, why their eyes had flashed dark blue before they had attacked. An enormous white ball of matter appeared in the air next to Ash and zoomed right at him as if he was a magnet and it a bunch of nails.

"Look out!" Ash cried to warn him of the huge Future Sight , which was closing in to him at an alarming rate.

( huh?) Pikachu looked up and saw the ball of energy just as the Future Sight attack hit him . "KAAACCCCHUUUUU!" he screamed out as the attack struck.

Simultaneously Ash yelled "PIIIKKKAAACHUUUU!" at the top of his lungs as the impact hurled the little mouse through the air across the room. he ricocheted off the invisible force field protecting the wall and Fell to the floor. The boy struggled against the team rocket leader's iron grip and his bonds. " you monster! pikachu! I have to see if he's alive! please oh please be okay pal. You can't dead. Please..." Ash's heart jumped as he saw his first Pokemon slowly got to his paws.

He groaned in pain as he weakly stood up (Owwwwwwww)

The Rocket leader snapped his fingers again and six cats vanished. The true Persian swooped on Pikachu like hungry Snorlaxes on food but he was too weak to fight.

in no time it pinned him to the floor with its heavy paws over his tiny body and dug its claws into his fur so he couldn't escape without injuring himself even more . It asked him something in a low growl . Meowth shuddered as he translated. "Persian is askin' im if he'll go wid dem quietly now an' be da boss' pokemon or .. Else ' " he gulped.

"That's pretty harsh" James replied .

As a reply he spat in the Persian's face (Now that's gutsy of him) Golduck remarked (good answer)

(What makes you even believe I'd go with you, you beast ? Go ahead, mess me up again, I don't care. I'll never serve your trainer since I'd rather die than leave Ash. He's a monster and just wants me to be a slave, a servant and doesn't care about my feelings. Ash treats me and any Pokémon he has like equals not like slaves. He treats us if we get sick or injure and he puts our safety and wellbeing first. He never forces me to battle or do anything if I don't want to. I will never abandon him for that horrible, monstrous savage beast you call your master) he replied back.

ash saw the mouse wink at him. He watched as the Persian furiously slashed an unsheathed across Pikachu's left ear hard as if it were no more than a scratching post. Its sharp claws broke through the layer of skin. He howled out in pain as red flecks came out . The cat slashed the little mouse's ear several more times and Ash knew Persian was mad that Pikachu had called Giovanni a monstrous beast.

'I have to help him,' he thought 'Think, ash, think. What can I do?' Ash told his brain, at least the part that wasn't panicking about the mess he was in or what he had just seen.

He thought hard for ten or so minutes, in which Persian was taunting Pikachu, calling him weak, soon-to-die runt, coward and worse insults, saying things like how he didn't care about real power. The young boy couldn't come up with anything since his brain was still in a state of shock. Shock. 'Shock! Of course!'

"Wait a minute! That's it" he said out loud. The answer was so simple and obvious he couldn't believe he hadn't thought of it sooner 'One well done Persian coming up' he called up what little courage he had left

"Pikachu, Thunderbolt!"

"Persian, Recover and Conversion2!" Giovanni and Ash both called out simultaneously. 'how can a persian know recover? and whats Conversion2? the teen thought.

"You're in for a real treat," Giovanni whispered in Ash's ears as he tensed the manacles around his arms and he felt them burn into his skin. the teenager bit his lip. "Conversion2 is a very rare move that's restricted to Porygons. It lets the Pokémon change types to a type resistant against the last attack used"

XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX XxX

Persian closed its eyes for a few a few seconds he did, all the cuts and scratches on his fur vanished. (what the- Th-that's not possible) his captive squeaked

the cat smirked ( it's possible, runt) he, for his voicetone was a male, laughed. (if you think that's was something get a load of this) he hissed before letting out an eerie howl that chilled the mouse's fur. His fur and eyes glowed and became as stone gray as an Onix. Pikachu shocked as hard as he could, but nothing happened. He tried over and over but the Persian just stood there, unscathed by the attacks. Pikachu stopped shocking the cat about ten minutes later, when he was getting wiped.

(scared, rat?) he laughed before giving another strange sounding howl as his eye and fur color both went back to normal. (That's your best shot? How pathetic ) he laughed as he dug his claws deeper into Pikachu's body.

Blood spilled out onto the red splattered floor. (Let me... go and I'll show you my best shot) the mouse panted.

Persian smirked evilly. (Do you think I'm stupid as those three) he jerked his tail in the direction of James, Jessie and Meowth (to fall for that?) Within a few seconds the cat raised one heavy unsheathed forepaw into the air and brought it down upon the mouse's injured left side of his face. he was overcome by a serious sharp stinging pain As the sharp claws hit their mark- and just missed his eye.

Pikachu yowled in pain at the same time as his trainer yelled his name out as four deep bleeding streaks appeared on his face.

The mouse could barely move- his paws were in too much pain to use. The cruel cat's enormous paws were still holding his body down so any movement would only injure him more. The electricity in his body was so weak he opened his mouth and let out a weak Growl at Persian, who ignored it and laughed.

(really? You think you're gonna beat me with Growl? Like I said, what a pitiful useless attack) Persian said as he dug his claws even deeper into the mouse's fur. a pool of scarlet spilled out . he let out a soft whimper. (Give it up, you pathetic excuse for a Pokemon. join Master and I)

His body ached. (Never! Never! I'm... not... pathetic) he panted. ( I'd rather die . your master is n-nothing but a c-c-coward. He's way t-too power hungry. he k-kidnaps amd th-threatens people and p-Pokemon just to make them obey orders )

(Don't insult my Master!) Persian screeched as he slashed Pikachu's ear again, harder than before.

"leave him alone!" the mouse heard Ash shout and the cat hissed. He felt faint from the blood loss and the room began to spin. The blood on his fur felt gluey and warm. The air stung from his injuries and the slash near his eye hurt like mad. The scent of the blood on his body and in the room was so strong he could taste it in his mouth. His whole body throbbed with pain.

out of the corner of his eye, he saw Giovanni hand Ash back to Lawrence, who shoved him onto the floor about five feet away. he landed in the middle of the slices of fabric that used to be his hat. He looked like he had been beaten up. his face had swollen slap marks on one side where Lawrence had slapped him and a small line of dried blood from the knife was under his throat and next to it was another line of blood which had just stopped bleeding. There was also a thin cut of dried blood on the other side of his face. There were little cuts on his arms where Lawrence's knife had hacked into the flesh. Pikachu saw the ropes binding his arms and legs cutting into his skin, cutting off Ash's circulation. His eyes and face were red and puffy from crying and his hair was a mess.

(I don't see what's so special about you or that pathetic loser of a trainer of yours. I'll let that weak human watch me beat you up again and then he's toast. Master can do what he wants with you without having a scrawny wimpy useless ccreature in the way) Persian said as he lifted a claw nearer and nearer to Pikachu's left ear , as if to slice it completely off. (I think I'll start with your ear)

That statement was the straw that broke the Girafarig's back, or in this case the Pikachu's back. That comment about his beloved trainer went so hard and deep inside that he snapped. ignoring the pain from the huge loss of blood, he did the one thing he vowed he would never do. '

(That absolutely does it! You may call me weak but NEVER CALL ASH PATHETIC OR A WEAKLING IN FRONT OF ME!) He yelled the last part as he Mega Kicked and Mega punched Persian off of him. Then a bright white light engulfed him and he began transforming.

XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX

Meowth saw the bright light cover Pikachu as he evolved. His small body grew bigger as did his ears and tail. " holy poke gods..."

When the light disappeared, his yellow red fur was a reddish-orange color due to the blood from his injures and the tips of his ears were a muddy brown, with the left one bleeding. His tail was now long and thin with a broad, lightning bolt-shaped tip. His face looked like it had been hacked with a blade badly thanks to that loathsome persian .

Meowth looked around and saw that he wasn't the only one feeling as if he had just been shocked into paralysis. Everyone but Giovanni was staring at him like they never had seen a Raichu before in their lives. Ash's jaw dropped and in the silence, Meowth heard the muffled sound of his Pokédex.

**Raichu, a Mouse Pokémon of the Electric element. Raichu is the evolved form of a Pikachu. It can shock with more than 100,000 volts, enough to render a Dragonite unconscious**

he looked over at the boy, who stared at Raichu with a look of wonder in his eyes as he mouthed the name a few times . The cat was immediately reminded of Pikachu's speech at the Vermilion City Pokémon Center long ago, when Ash gave him the choice of evolving so he could beat Lt. Surge's Raichu or staying as a Pikachu, which was the decision he made.

_(I will never, ever evolve. I want to battle the Raichu again, just as I am now. I will fight in the name of all Pikachu. I will also defend my honor and your honor too, Ash )_

'Dat's odd . he said dat he was never gonna evolve' Meowth said aloud . I taught dat da only way fer him ta evolve was ta use a Tunderstone ',

Ash finally found his voice. "h-h-how did this happen?" . Misty, Jessie and James could only shrug.

"Meowth, what's Raichu telling the Boss?" James asked Meowth, who was watching Raichu say something to Giovanni, his fur bristling as he talked. he translated what he was saying for the humans.

"Raichu ai Chu Rai Raichu Chu RaiAi chu Rai! Ai rai aichu Chu rai Raichu Chu Rai Raichu Chuai Aichu Rai Raichu Chu Rai ai " Raichu was now facing Lawrence. "ChuRai Raichu Chu Rai Raichu Aichu Rai RaiAi rai chu chu raichu. Ai Chu Rai Raichu-Rai Chu ai Raichu-chu rai RaichuChu ai RaiAi chu ai rai rai Aichu rai chu chura. Raichu ria chu ai ria rai aichu!"

" What Raichu is sayin' is dis: I've had up to here wid you hoitin' my best human frien an' pal in da whole world I don't care dat you kidnapped him or dat ya want 'im outta da way so ya can capture Lugia. Ya crossed da line wid me when ya threatened to hoit him". He took a breath. "Dat's beautiful. " Tears were running down the cat' face but he took no notice of them as he finished translating "Ya don't know how many times Ash saved my life an' now it's my turn to repay da favor."

XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX

After Raichu finished talking, he tried to run over to Ash, but his paws were moving but he wasn't! (Huh?)

He turned around and saw his new longer tail pinned to the ground by one huge paw of the Persian, whose yellow eyes gleamed at him like an Ampharos' tail in the darkness. (Trying to go somewhere, runt? You may have evolved, but you're still no match for me so do you have any last words?) The Persian snickered.

Raichu charged up all of the electricity in his body that was left, he used nearly all of it up trying to shock the cage open and Thunderbolted the cat through his tail. (yes. good-night) he laughed as his tail was released and the cat fell to the floor.

With the last of his strength, he summoned a series of stars, which cut the ropes strapping Ash like a knife through hot butter . He tried to run over to him, but suddenly found he couldn't move, it was like something else had control over his body. (help. me) he muttered then everything went black as he fainted.

XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX.

As soon as the Swift attack cut the ropes holding his arms and legs, Ash looked up as his electric type fainted .

"PIKA-RAAAIIICHUUUU!" he yelled out as he ran over to him. He picked the limp form up, tore off his vest and carefully wrapped the wounded mouse in it stopping his side from bleeding, getting blood on the fabric as well as his badges in the process. He'd have to clean them another time since at that moment all that mattered was Raichu's safety . Next Ash knelt down and felt his body. Raichu's body felt somewhat warm and his fur was covered in sticky blood. He wasn't moving at all.

"Come on buddy, wake up." Nothing. "Want to help me win another badge?" No response. "Say something...Anything" Again there was no reply from the pokemon.

he felt a lump rising in his throat and hot tears began to run down his face. He bent down, put one ear to his pokémon's chest and for six seconds he listened carefully for a heartbeat, which was very faint.

"Raichu" the black haired boy muttered. 'no. please no, ' he thought as he lifted his ear 'He can't be...just couldn't be.. '

Without warning a strong rubber net was flung over them ! He gazed and saw Giovanni's smug face. "You twisted sick beast!. You-you killed him. How c-could you..." He said, his face hot with tears.

"It's not dead, just extremely weak. Stupid ignorant boy, it takes a lot of energy for a Pokémon to evolve without a stone. it had even less energy because it had Substituted for the first time so I added some stun-spore dust onto Persian's claws . I'll use you to break it's spirit and bend to my will . Even if my" he stressed the word," Raichu had its energy, that net is unshockable . if it disobeys me I'll kill you."

Giovanni went over to Misty and started threatening her . Ash made sure no one was watching as he unclipped Bayleef's pokeball from his belt. "Don't you worry, pal, I'll have us out in two shakes of a Mareep's tail" he told the unmoving form as he enlarged it, and threw it onto the floor.

the pokeball opened. a white burst of energy came out and materialized into his Bayleef. Bayleef was a pale yellow dinosaur Pokemon of the grass type. She had small leaf-like growths sprouting in a ring around her neck and a large leaf shaped scythe sticking out from her head. She had a small tail. She sniffed the air for a few seconds as her pokeball flew back into her trainer's hand. finding the source of his scent, she ran over to where he was in the net. (Ash! My Ash!) She began to lick his face as a sign of affection. Ever since she was a Chikorita she had a crush on him.

"I know you're happy to see me, but this isn't the time Bayleef" Ash told her and she stopped. She was shocked to see how beat up he looked. she did a double take when she saw an awfully injured Raichu in the net. . ' it couldn't be ... could it?' Bulbasaur told her about how Pikachu refused to evolve . And yet there was one right there in his lap.

'Something must have changed significantly for him to have evolved. how's it possible that he evolved without a Thunder Stone?' she thought she looked up at her trainer. He was biting his lip, trying not to cry as he looked down at the electric mouse. he looked hurt-not just on the outside. 'he doesn't look like himself. ' she thought. 'he looks like a broken boy'

She knew what would help get him back to normal ( my Sweet Scent will help calm you down) she said. He nodded . Bayleef waved her scythe and a small cloud of her Sweet Scent powder fell over Ash. as the sweet smelling pink powder settled he felt his worries disappear for a few minutes as it took effect. He sighed almost dreamily.

(What happened here?) She gazed at the scars. (When I find whoever did this, they'll get a taste of my Body Slam)

"I'll- I'll tell you later" he mumbled So she left it alone.

She looked around and saw Misty holding golduck fearfully as the team rocket leader and Lawrence threatened her . (Psyduck finally evolved?) She asked

"Y-yeah, he did" he told her as he shook some of the sparkling powder off.

(Knew he had it in him.) she muttered to herself (what happened here? Why's there's all this blood)

He choked on the words. "Y-you don't wanna know. trust me " his eyes were sad

She was worried. She had overheard some voices she was in her pokebal and what she'd heard was very terrible. but instead she said (that's okay with me Ash. Why did you call me out? Do you want me to battle or something?) She asked as he shook the last of the powder off, completely regaining his senses

"Not to battle . I need you to use your Razor Leaf attack to cut this net off me and Raichu- " He looked down but all he saw was his blood-soaked vest. He was gone! " Where is he? Where'd he go" he asked panicky.

(Look over here human ) a hiss came from his right side so h looked. Persian had one claw over Raichu's left electrical sack and swiped it. Blood ran down his face, through the sticky fur and leaked through the wire net on its way to the floor. The cat removed its red stained claw then put it against the mouse's neck as if to slice it off. the cat growled and hissed in a menacing manner at Bayleef ( go on. Try it. You so much as move and I kill the mouse right her and now. Master can use its fur to make a new one.)

Ash and Misty gasped as their eyes widened. They were thinking the same thought: 'how does he know about clones if Mewtwo erased his memory back on Mount Quena?'.

( He has spent so much money wasted on catching it, though why he wanted it when it was a puny pikachu I don't know . He has gone so far to snag it . i can see why now that he and i have seen its power. It will be very useful for us-) Persian licked his lip

Bayleef shuddered (he wouldn't help you if celebi herself sprouted another head and Dragonite sized wings. I'll- I'll fight you-)

The cat scoffed. (You and what army-the girl's? Jessie, James and meowth's wimpy team) Meowth hissed at his evolved form but the cat went on . ( i don't care if I have to kill you and the humans one by one in order to get the raichu to obey Master. If that happens well as well then he doesn't have to deal with your trainer ruining his plans anymore . Make your move) he lowered his voice on the last three words.

TO BE CONTINUED


	4. part 2b-the conclusion

Lawrence's Revenge Part 2b by WyldClaw

Disclaimer: Sunkit (my OC,): really, mousebrained Twolegs? You think WC owns anything? HA! Take it away WC!

WC: thanks Sunkit! Are you ready for the conclusion? Remember how I said that you're going to need tissues nearby? You'll need them soon and I'm not saying more than that. I don't own the time has come song lyrics, which are in **bold**. Just pretend the song is playing in the background while all the memories are going through Ash's head, I also don't own the flashback lines and XxX XxX means scene change

Revised: feb 2016

XxX.. XxX

Bayleef shuddered (he wouldn't help you if celebi herself sprouted Dragonite sized wings. I'll- I'll fight you-)

The cat scoffed. (You and what army-the girl's? Jessie, James and Meowth's wimpy team) Meowth hissed at his evolved form but the cat went on. (I don't care if I have to kill you and the humans one by one in order to get the raichu to obey Master. If that happens well as well then he doesn't have to deal with your trainer ruining his plans anymore. Make your move) he hissed the last three words

her eyes ping ponged from the Persian to her trainer and back- she was . Like Raichu she was loyal to her friends and wouldn't put them in danger . (I- I .. won't risk my teammate's life. I'm ..Sorry I couldn't help you out) she mumbled, as she looked at her feet for a few seconds, ashamed that she couldn't do anything.

Ash understood her embarrassment. "You tried, Bayleef. Return ." he sadly recalled her to her pokeball, and clipped it back onto his belt. After he did this, Persian lifted its blood-covered claw from Raichu's neck.

"No wonder those idiots lost to you, they never attacked your heart." Giovanni said as he walked past and towards where the helicopter was waiting outside, Persian at his side.

Meowth, James and Jessie followed him. As they passed him as they grabbed the end of the net, Meowth whispered out of the corner of his mouth , "We tried ta fool Lawrence but it failed. Sorry twoip. "

"Huh?" the raven haired boy was confused. "what's he talking about? How did they try to –Oh!" It hit him they were the ones who taught Raichu Substitute. As they were dragged along the red-stained floor to the bottom of the helicopter outside on the launch pad he pieced together their plan .

"I think I get it, " he said to the limp form. "They were going to bring Lawrence the fake you, when you'd be waiting in their balloon. They'd tell Lawrence that Misty ran away with Togepi, when they would also be hiding in the balloon. They would then give Lawrence the fake you to give to Giovanni. James would tell Weezing to use its smokescreen attack and Jessie would use a smoke bomb to use as a cover to rescue me. Then we would get in the balloon and split before the substitute faded. Am I right?"

Raichu's reply was a jerk of his tail, which he took as yes. 'Ha. And here I thought those three couldn't do anything right without it blowing up in their faces. Still, it doesn't change a thing between us even though they saved my hide big time' he thought. The net was tied to the bottom of the helicopter very tightly.

Soon the helicopter started moving away from The airship. Soon all Ash could see of it was a small dot. Upon closer look at his tail, He saw it was covered in orange dust specks coming from two claw marks at the tip. It was such a small amount that it wouldn't affect a human. But when he thought about everything his pal had gone through it was nothing short of unspeakable wretchedness. He swore under his breath. "That evil twisted, bas-"

Just then Raichu's eyes fluttered open. (Wh-what happened? Last thing I remember-) he began but then the paralysis took effect. His body started twitching, like he couldn't control his movements anymore. Ash knew at once that it was due to the Stun Spore.

" Let's get you cleaned up" he said as he got a small cloth out of his jeans pocket, held him while pressing the cloth against his injured electric sack until the blood stopped running down his fur. "Are you okay?"

(I th-think so) the large mouse nodded.

"I can't believe you did that for me... that took so much courage and loyalty"

(Didn't have a choice.) Raichu shuddered. (Sorry i couldn't. save us...). He seemed to be in great pain.

"Shh, dont strain yourself pal ".

Something nagged at him. It wasn't that Raichu evolved without a stone-though that was puzzling. It wasn't how Persian knew those attacks-a puzzle best left unanswered he concluded. . It was how the team rocket leader knew where he lived and his name. ' How did he know my full name? I've never told anyone, not even Misty'. His mom never talked about his dad, but she told him once that he would have been proud to see him start his Pokemon quest. 'Is Giovanni, the boss of my sworn enemies since I stopped them in Viridian City my father?'

XxX. XxX XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX XxX. XxX XxX. XxX XxX. XxX

After the helicopter left Lawrence wasted no time in trying to take Togepi away from Misty. He had her cornered into the cage bars. Knowing he was exhausted. She recalled Golduck to his pokeball, which left her pretty defenseless. Togepi shuddered as he hid in her arms. "You have no place to run, girl. So hand over that Togepi and I won't kill you ... yet"

"N-never" Misty said

(I'm scared, Mommy) Togepi whispered as she was pressed against the cold cage bars. They were trapped.

"Don't worry. I'll keep you safe," she told the frightened Pokémon. "I'm not going to let him hurt you." She shuddered as she recalled how Lawrence had tortured him in her horrible nightmare.

The madman grinned. "The kid isn't here to save you this time. If you hand over that creature in your arms I might let you live. You don't have any other options so hand it over!"

(I'm not going with you, you meanie) Togepi proclaimed. (I'm gonna fight for mommy an' for daddy) She looked down and noticed his hands waving back and forth; glowing blue. He was using Metronome! 'Please oh please be something useful.' She thought.

He stopped waving his fingers. An orange, fiery twister appeared in his mouth and he blew it onto the floor, where it sunk into the floor and vanished from sight. Lawrence smiled. "I told you before girl, nothing can destroy this ship now! You thought that lame thing could save you? Ha -"

KAAAAABOOOOM!

Suddenly the ship blew up! The explosion, which totally extirpated the aircraft sent Misty and Togepi flying! Luckily she had the smarts to hold him tight than before the ship exploded. As they fell through the air, amid blazing scraps of metal

She thought 'so this is how it ends. Good-bye cruel world. I'll never be able to tell Ash how I love-'

Just then someone large and orange caught them on his back. (Good thing I'm here or you two would be Fearow food) a recognizable voice told them. Misty recognized the voice-it was Ash's old Charizard!

(Charizard!) Togepi cried happily. (You saved Mommy and me!)

(I guess I did. I was flying through the neighborhood when I saw you.) He said as they got settled. (What in Mew's name happened here?) He pointed to the blazing scraps of the airship.

She told him a shortened version of what happened, trying not to cry. His eyes went wide when he heard about his old teammate's surprise evolution. "…Now I don't know wh-where they went. If I don't Rescue them now who knows what he's going to do to them. " She ended, choking on the words.

(I don't blame you for being worried for them. That man is inhuman to do that. If it helps I passed a helicopter that reeked of Team Rocket not long ago) Charizard said.

Her heart did a joyful flip. They could rescue them before it would be too late! 'If we get out of this mess alive, I'll tell Ash that I love him and give him a huge kiss', She thought, although she didn't tell this to the dragon as he would probably say something like he knew that from when he was a little Charmander. "Can you track it down?" she asked.

He looked at her like she asked him to fry a Bellsprout (can I track it? of course I can. I'm like a growlithe with wings. Better put Togepi in a pokeball cause I'm going to fly super fast.) He said as he landed on a small ledge jutting out from a rocky cliff.

Misty unclipped an empty pokeball from her belt, enlarged it and showed it to Togepi, who looked scared and shook his head at it. (I don't like those things, Mommy) he protested

"Please do it for me".

(No)

(It's nice and warm, and this way you are out of harm's way in case people try to take you) Charizard added

(Like the mean man who took Daddy and Waichu?) Togepi asked.

"Y-yes. Th-that man" Misty confirmed.

(From what you told me he's pure evil. if he harms them in anyway...) charizard growled softly.

The little pokemon gazed from Charizard to Misty and back. (I guess I'll try It. if it means mommy doesn't have to worry about me. You're gonna try to save them wight?)

(On my honor, kid)

" Yes. You just take a long nap in the ball. " She saw a haunted look in his eyes. The events on the ship had shaken him up. " You'll be safe in there."

(Ok) he agreed. She pointed the ball at him and a red beam sucked him safely inside. She minimized the ball and returned it to her belt. .

'Did I make the right choice?' She thought as she stared down at the pokeball. She knew she couldn't carry him forever. There were times he walked off and Raichu would follow him to ensure he didn't get hurt. She remembered that time in Viridian City that he got lost and she, Brock and Ash spent all that time looking for him. She recalled that dreadful feeling someone stole him but they'd found him inside the Viridian Gym. Misty still didn't know what had happened to him or how he'd gotten there. Then there was the advantage of having him in a pokeball.

"I'll be able to call him back if he's in trouble or hurt'" She said but then a scary thought came 'what if my pokéballs are stolen? I'll never see him again.'

Charizard guessed what She was thinking. (He'll be okay in there, Misty.)

"I owe you one," she said.

(He's got to get used to them at some point. at least he won't get injured. I'm surprised he isn't tired. . He's got the makings of a fighter when he learns more attacks. He can't just rely on Metronome; he's got to have some backup attacks too.)

She wasn't sure if that was a compliment or not. Togepi never really battled-there was that one time in Johto when she& Ash had that battle to see who got Totodile but other than that he never really showed any interest in learning any attacks. Metronome saved their lives in the Orange Islands once or twice but that was it. "Thanks, I think." She said

(Now let's find them) Charizard declared as he spread his wings and took off from the cliff. He flew, hot on the scent. The clouds looked like blurs, they went through them so fast. She was glad she was riding a fire type- the tiny droplets of moisture chilled her skin but Charizard's internal heat kept her warm.

"What's it like inside a pokeball?" She asked out of pure curiosity as they flew through of the clouds.

(Well. it's hard to explain. the atmosphere gives you a sense of security. Somehow- doesn't ask me I don't know how; you're changed into a ball of red energy and put in your own little world. You can get an idea of what's going on outside the ball so that if you are sent out, you know what's happening but its is kind of like background noise. Many Pokémon see it as a place where they can be safe and take a nap) He explained

She looked down at Togepi's pokeball. "You mean he can hear what we're talking about?"

(Yeah err no. Some Pokémon block the noises out and rest while some like to know what's going on)

'So that's why Golduck popped out all the time. He sensed I was in trouble' she thought.

(To a Pokémon who hates being confined, being in one just for a little bit is like pure agony ) the dragon paused for a minute to catch his breath as he dashed through some clouds. (I can see why Pika-) he corrected himself. (I mean Raichu loathes them.). He ended then added (I still can't believe he evolved. it's hard to grasp)

"I know what you mean. We were all stunned."

(Seems that persian went too far. I'm guessing that the extra evolutionary energy burst may have saved his life)

" evolutionary energy burst?"

(It didn't happen to me but I've heard that when a Pokemon evolves the process sometimes triggers an extra boost of energy. It's quick but that energy can mean the difference between life and death. It can power up abilities and attacks that are low.)

She thought about that for a few minutes. It made sense how Raichu was able to Thunderbolt that abhorrent Persian when he was low on energy. They dipped beneath a wispy cloud to fly closer to the earth (evolution's strange. it affects everyone in different ways. It can change or break a pokemon for better or worse) the fire type commented.

They said nothing for a few minutes. Misty wondered if this comment stemmed from the fact that he had completely changed personalities when he went through his own evolutions or just a general observation.

"What's that? " she asked as she pointed to a swarm of something getting closer to them. As it got closer, her eyes bugged out when she saw what it was.

"B-B-B-BEEDRILL!" she shouted loudly as the huge swam of poison bees flew even closer. Her face went pale white. She truly hated bug pokemon.

(Hold on tight) Charizard declared as she clung tightly to his shoulders. He unleashed a huge Fire Blast at the swarm, which burned the bugs to cinders and they fell to the ground like stones.

(Beedrill Flambé, yum) he licked his lips as they started to fly down to the ground where the burnt bodies lay in a pile.

"Charizard! This isn't time to be eating or lollygaging!" she yelled at him. He grumbled as he swooped down, grabbed one of the roasted bugs with his claws and flew back up as they were about to hit the ground. "Yuck! How can you eat that?" She asked Charizard as he sunk his teeth into the head of the deceased bug he was holding as if it was a candy bar.

(The only poisonous parts are the tail and arms. A Fearow stole the Raticate I was going to have for breakfast. I haven't had a thing since I left the Charific Valley and I'm starving) was his reply. (Are you sure you don't want any? It's very high in protein and vitamins) he said in between bites.

Her face turned the shade of a Bulbasaur's bulb. She hated bugs and Charizard eating the dead one in front of her grossed her out even more. "I'll pass on that offer."

(Suit yourself. Please No hurling on the wings, just waxed them. It takes forever to get vomit off them and chicks dig guys with clean wings. You know what other 'zards in the Valley call me?) Charizard asked her.

"I'd rather not." Misty confessed but the fire type ignored her.

(The love doctor and there's a patient in need of an appointment. Watch the doctor's best shot.) Charizard told her as he flew over to a passing figure, which turned out to be a Pidgeot.

She groaned. 'just what I need right now .A pokemonized version of Brock. We'll NEVER catch up them now'.

(Hello, lovely. May I remark how the sunlight hitting your feathers makes you look more beautiful than a shiny Fearow)

Pidgeot looked at Charizard and then at its feathers for a few seconds. (You're right) she, for the bird's voice was female (I am much more pretty than a shiny)

(The name's zard, Charizard that is. Now that we've recognized how beautiful you are, why don't you and I find a remote cloud bank to show each other our special moves?) Charizard said to the bird

(Go annoy a Blastoise, charcoal breath) she retorted back as she started to fly away.

(You're hotter than they are. You're much lovelier than Moltres herself. I've seen her up close) Charizard added.

Misty knew this detail would get the bird's attention. Her black eyes went wide. If she had a mouth instead of a beak, it would have dropped and if the cloudbank she was flying through were a wall, the bird would definitely crashed into it. She slowed down her flying so that Charizard could catch up to her (whaaaat? You've s-seen M-Moltres herself with your own eyes? One of the most beautiful Pokegods ever ?) She sputtered; disregarding there was a human on his back.

(Who hasn't?) he shrugged his shoulders as if a Moltres sighting was common, , like a Weedle (But she is a mere spearow compared to your loveliness.) He replied. (Would you like to make a new Pokémon with such a handsome specimen?)

(Huh?) Pidgeot was confused (What in the name of Ho-Oh's tail feathers are you babbling about?)

(Moi. Me. Breed with me, lovely. Our egg will hatch into something half Charizard and half Pidgeot)

it took Pidgeot a few seconds to realize what he was asking. ( you – you selfish pig! I don't crossbreed, with jerks! Stupid Charizard! Like I'd mate with someone whose brain is the size of a moon stone or smaller!) She said huffily as she made a very rude gesture at him with her talon then flew out of sight muttering under her breath.

Misty couldn't hold in her laughter. " well played. Is that's your best shot, great 'love doctor'?" she said after she laughed about the talon that the Pidgeot had just given him.

(So, I'm a bit out of practice)

"A bit? "

(But I had her wrapped around my claw when I told her that she was prettier than Moltres. Chicks dig it when they are told they are cuter than a Legendary. Did I have Beedrill guts in my teeth when I talked? 'cause that's the most likely reason she gave me the talon)

She rolled her eyes, and shook her head. "You're pathetic. don't you already have a girlfriend? You know, Charla?" She pointed out to Charizard, empathizing the name. The dragon's face went strawberry red, which clashed horribly with his orange hide. "Besides, Pidgeots aren't even fire types. It would have never worked out."

(Killjoy.) the dragon grumbled. He spat out what was left of the dead Beedril, let the carcass drop from his claws, sniffed the air and pointed to a small black speck in the distance with one of his nails. (bingo was his name-o. There they are!)

"How can you tell?" Misty wondered

(Two ways. One, there's a huge red "R' painted on one side. Two. I can smell Ash and that filthy Rocket scent from here. We're about ten minutes from them. want me to floor it?) Misty nodded. ( hold on tight then). He went at such a high speed she thought her face was going to fall off.

XxX. XxX XxX. XxX XxX. XxX XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX XxX. XxX XxX. XxX XxX. XxX

"Okay pal, I'm going to take the cloth off you." Ash said as he removed the slice of bloody fabric from Raichu's injured electrical sack on his left cheek. The fresh air stung but the injured mouse ignored it as he licked Ash then curled up into his lap . This was a harder than when he was a Pikachu because his new form was larger . " that feel a bit better?" the mouse nodded. The teen took in the innumerable injuries across his body and face . " sorry I can't fix all your injuries like that. If that ... Devil has even a shred of decency he'll let you recover"

(i doubt he will. I don't want that man to hurt me . He terrifies me. after what happened on the ship...) Raichu shivered.

"I don't blame you. he scares the blazes out of me too. I won't let him use you for evil purposes ." He said as he scratched Raichu behind his right ear and Raichu let out a contented sigh. Ash had taken his bloody vest off him and put it back on himself.

"We'll get out of this mess, I promise you."

(Really?)

"Have I ever let you down?"

He shook his head . Ash looked away for a second and Raichu knew who was pn his mind. (Misty?) Raichu asked him.

"Yeah" he sighed. " I wish I could see her one last time. I'd do anything to hear her talk even about that stupid bike-"

"you STILL owe me, Ash Ketchum! for your information, it was not a stupid bike!" a voice replied. Raichu sniffed the air with his nose and saw Misty riding Charizard nearing them. He nudged Ash with his paws and pointed to her with his paralyzed tail.

(Mis-) he called out her name but the stun spore stopped him and he started twitching again. Ash had to hold him down for a second time

"is that you?" Ash asked tears streaming down his face. She rolled her eyes and gave him a don't-be-a-complete-moronic-dolt-like-Jessie-James-and-Meowth-are look.

"No, I'm Gary."

Ash shuddered at that. Gary Oak was his rival and always seemed to be one step ahead of Ash

(She's joking) Raichu told him, which calmed him down.

"If you weren't in this mess, Ash, I'd be giving you something to cry about." She replied, as Charizard got closer. Right now, she had gotten close enough to try to untie the net but first she got a small item-ball out of her pack and motioned for Raichu to stick out his long tail. Misty opened the item-ball above it and white dust fell out of it onto it. He flinched for a minute at the touch of the cold powder and then he could feel his muscles. Charizard,

Ash and Misty watched as the Paralyze Heal powder caused the Stun spore to evaporate. Next she climbed up to where the net was tied at the bottom of the helicopter.

"Don't you worry, I'll have you two out-" Misty started to restore confidence in them as she tried to untie the wire net at the bottom of the helicopter when the glass bottom door opened and she saw two brown shoes. She gulped as her eyes went past the shoes, all the way up to Giovanni's sneering face.

" Don't panic Misty. Just stay calm and don't panic" , she said to herself while her brain flashed a red alarm sign PANIC! PANIC! YOU'RE DEAD! YOU'RE DEAD!

Persian put one heavy paw over her hands so she couldn't move. Charizard cut the net open with a small Ember then dived under and caught Ash and Raichu on his back. she saw Giovanni pull out a gun out of his vest and point it straight at Ash's heart. Her heart pounded even faster. "Don't even move . You know boy, you'd make an excellent member of Team Rocket." Giovanni sneered at Ash,

"I'd sooner eat my Charizard and then my Muk!" Ash replied angrily.

(Hey!) The fire type said.

"Don't be stupid like Delia. She could have been rich beyond her puny little imagination. She even promised she'd marry me but she left me when I told her I was the heir to Team Rocket."

"well, I'd call mom smart if she dumped you!" Ash said but Giovanni continued as if he didn't hear that.

"You can have a plethora of money and rare pokémon. I can help you become the Johto League champ or rule the world if you join Team Rocket now."

"Rot in hell where you belong." Ash replied.

"I have a deal for you, boy. I let your girlfriend here" Giovanni glanced down at Misty, her face tomato red, "go free and you give me that very powerful mouse of yours in return " He now looked at Raichu, who was shaking with fear behind Ash, with an evil look in his eye," I'll take very good care of it."

"Don't fall for that, Ash!" Misty shouted. "You and I know he'll treat Raichu like sh-" but before she could go on Persian dug its claws deeper into her hands, breaking into the skin and thin lines of bright red blood streamed out running down her hands and she tried not to wince at the pain.

"You'll have to pry him from my cold, dead fingers." he looked him in the eye as he said this.

"as you wish , kid" Giovanni remarked as he pulled the trigger. A speeding bullet came out of the gun's barrel right at him! As if she was watching in slow motion, Misty saw Raichu jump up in front of Ash right as it was about to hit the young trainer and it struck the mouse instead.

"RAAAIIICHUUUU, NOOOOOOOOOOO!" Ash screamed at the top of his lungs as the bullet struck him, a few inches from his heart.

At the same time Meowth bit Persian's tail and used slash on it . The other cat screamed out in pain. (You'll pay for that!) he hissed as he removed his paws from Misty's hands in order to lunge at his pre-evolved form.

She fell into the air. (Gotcha!) Charizard said as he flew under the copter and she fell onto his back. Then the fire type used an enormous Fire Blast at the helicopter, which exploded, sending Persian, Giovanni, Jessie, James and Meowth flew through the air

"We're blasting off again!" Jessie, James and Meowth shouted before Giovanni started yelling at them as they soon disappeared over the horizon.

XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX

Charizard flew Misty and Ash holding Raichu in his arms, to the closest Pokémon Center as fast as he could and dropped them off at the entrance. As the two humans rushed inside, the orange fire type looked through the window at his old trainer, who was gently handing Nurse Joy Raichu and sighed. 'Wish there was something I could do to help them in their time of need' he thought as he took to the air and began to fly the long trek back to the Charific Valley.

Suddenly he heard a voice in his head "You have done your part well, fire dragon,"

(huh? Who said that?) he slowed his flying down a bit and looked around. There was no one in sight. 'okay either I'm going crazy or-'

"you aren't going mad, young charizard. " the voice spoke again –it wasn't harsh but powerful. the dragon opened his maw to speak but the voice continued. "And yes you ARE young for charizard standards, for they live hundreds and hundreds of years. "

(umm . okay. what or who are you? are you a -)

"I'm afraid I can't reveal myself, young one. I am connected in a way with your former trainer"

(gee, that narrows it down a lot ) charizard said sarcastically muttered.

After what Misty told him a bodiless voice seemed normal to him , who had an odd feeling he'd heard it before. The voice continued.. "like I said you did your part. You rescued the Chosen One and his Raichu from a fate too horrible to imagine. But Raichu's destiny is in the hands of fate now."

(all I did was save Misty and Togepi from becoming Fearow food, blew up that stupid helicopter. I wish there was something else I could do. But my size makes it hard to –)

"There is something you can do. Go back to the center and wait by the window. When the moon is nigh fly against the moon'

( what? How does that help him? Unless you're an ultra-powerful legendary that can appear in the darkness, heal a fatal wound and turn back time I don' t see -)

the voice chuckled. "I can't turn back time but I know someone who can. You met me or at least heard me, once me before back in the Orange Islands. you were quite determined to bring the boy to Ice island so much that you put your pride aside . which Legendary do you suppose I am?"

Charizard's jaw dropped as he flew right into a cloudbank. He knew which Legendary it was. He bowed his head in respect. (I-I –I didn't realize who you were . I'm – I'm sorry lord-)

he pictured the powerful white and blue bird waving him along with a wing. " all is forgiven. Now you understand why I need your ,forgive me , your size & bulk. Hide nearby and I will give you a sign when it is time. "

( yes, lord) he bowed his head.

"thanks. And for what its ' worth, that pidgeot WAS beautiful," the voice vanished from his mind.

He then turned around and flew back to the Pokemon Center (I owe him my life) he muttered to himself as he flew back, thinking about how Ash had saved his life not once but twice. The first time was when he was a little Charmander. The young boy, Brock and Misty had come along and saved him from dying in a rainstorm after Damien, his jerky ex-trainer abandoned him for being too weak. The other time was in the Orange Islands .a trainer's Poliwrath had Ice Beamed him and his tail flame had nearly gone out. Ash had stayed up the whole night, rubbing the fire type's skin with his hands until they were red and sore, trying to keep the flame on his tail from going out. This sparked a new respect for Ash in Charizard's eyes, for after he had evolved into Charmeleon he had very bad attitude problems. He lost all respect for the human, disobeying his commands to the point of taking a nap in the middle of a battle.

'Poor kid' he thought. 'To witness something like that and after everything he saw in the airship' he touched his heart with a claw . 'He must feel like the bullet did go right through his heart. I just hope that both Ash and Raichu make it through

XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX

Ash was so concerned about Raichu everything else -giving him to Nurse Joy, the chanseys treating his and misty's injuries , or sitting down in the waiting room- seemed to be a blur. All he could think was if he was going to be make it through . 'He has to make it. He just has to'. the thought of losing his best pokemon friend in the world forever- especially after what they had just gone through- was too much to bear.

"Ash? " Misty's voice broke his train of thought . " weren't you hungry?

"Huh?"

"I saw you didn't really touch your dinner. Usually you eat like a Snorlax. You sort of picked at your plate and didn't eat much." she commented after dinner when they were back in the waiting room. "Didn't Lawrence give you anything to eat?"

"Barely" he mumbled . The only thing he had was a stale piece of bread. The aristocrat didn't believe in killing him then only starving him " until you are too weak to crawl to the Shamuti Shrine on your belly", which what he told him when he gave him the bread. The villain had taken delight at seeing him like that . He even ate in front of the starving trainer.

(I ate the whole thing, Mommy) Togepi said proudly Misty had let him out of his Pokeball as soon as she and Ash had arrived at the Center. It was clear that he wasn't upset by the experience at all, but had rather enjoyed it

"I know you did, sweetheart." Misty said. "You're a growing pokémon."

"w-wasn't hungry." he mumbled, his growling, empty stomach telling the truth.

She looked him over and handed over two packets of peanut butter crackers and a granola bar she bought from the vending machine. "Here. You may not have been hungry for dinner but you need to eat something. " she lowered her voice . "You went through hell in the past few days. but starving yourself while waiting to hear about Raichu isn't going to help."

"thanks Mist" he said as he accepted the food. Being ravenous as he was it only took him a few minutes to devour the food. He had just thrown away the wrappers in the trash as Nurse Joy came up to them.

"Which one `of you is Ashton?" Misty saw Ash flinch. "I have some news about their Raichu for them."

'Must be his full name', Misty thought. 'No wonder he cringed. Now I know why he insists being called Ash. I mean, who in their right mind would name a boy Ashton'.

"That's me. But I go by Ash, not Ashton " Ash said as he jumped out of his seat when he heard that. " Is it good news, Nurse Joy? Is the bullet out? Is he going to be okay?" he asked, his face hopeful. "Is he gonna make It"

"It's not looking good" she said as she slowly shook her head. his hopes were crushed. He bit his lip in order not to cry as he sat back down, looking at the floor as if he wanted to hear anything but this news. "Although the bullet is out, he's gravely ill. It seems that it was extremely hard for him to evolve without a Thunderstone and he's also lost tons of blood. There is also some damage done to a few internal organs. It's hard to say if he will make through the night or not. It doesn't look too hopeful at the moment " she ended.

"Can't you do anything else, Nurse Joy?" Misty said in a sad tone. "Raichu was his first pokémon." she nodded toward Ash. "They were extremely close. They Just went through a ... Horrible expierience"

" It would take a complete miracle. Chansey, Blissey and I have done all we can, I'm sorry " She sadly and then walked away

Ash began to cry his heart out. Misty looked over at her crush. she had never seen him cry like this, sure he cried when he released Butterfree, the first Pokémon he had raised by himself and when he briefly released pikachu. But never like this, like he was about to lose a very close friend. Their bond was wicked close and what happened on the airship only solidified it. 'What will happen if Raichu doesnt make it.. '

(Mommy?) Togepi asked her something, interrupting herc thought.

"Hmmm.. What's the matter?"

(Why's Daddy upset?)

Misty let out a sigh of relief. 'it's a good thing he took a nap in his pokeball . but how am I going to explain this?' She thought. She took a deep breath and began to tell Togepi in the most truthful simple words she could, why Ash was distressed. "Giovanni," she saw the confused look on his face," the bad man from the ship was going to kill –"

(the dark-haired man that's the dummyheads boss?) He inquired her and she tried not to smile at that. Dummyheads was what Togepi called them, his word for idiot. it was true about Meowth, James, and Jessie. They WERE idiots that couldn't even catch a Metapod or a Magicarp if their lives depended on it. But the fact that they actually tried to save them redeemed them... Slightly.

"Yes, the dummyhead's boss. Why do you want to know?"

(I saw him once before today) he said after a minute.

"When, Togepi"

(When we were in that big city, I can't wemember the name. the one where Daddy got his last badge.)

"V-V-viridian City?" Misty asked, realizing she was about to find out where he had been when he wash lost there . She remembered that dreadful feeling she'd had that he was snatched.

Togepi nodded. (yeah -that's the one. They found me and took me to him. He asked them what I did and they didn't know what to say and he got mad at them. Then a phone rang and they forgot all about me so I went to find you. Why did you want to know where I had seen him?

' that explains why Giovanni called him useless' she thought. "N-no reason." now that she knew what had happened to him, Misty went back to answering his first question. "he had Ash and Raichu tied up at the bottom of the helicopter in that net. I went to try to untie them but a door opened and he had that despicable persian put it's paws over my hands so I couldn't move. He was going to kill me-" Togepi gasped at this. "if Ash didn't hand over Raichu."

(What did Daddy do?)

"He refused a-and-," Misty stopped, mid sentence seeing Raichu jump in front of him, taking the bullet for him in her mind

(And what?) Togepi asked her. (What happened next?)

"Giovanni fired a gun right at him but Raichu jumped up in front of Ash and the bullet hit him instead," Misty told him, omitting it struck Raichu one or two inches from his heart- a near perfect bulls-eye.

(Is he going to be okay?) Togepi asked her, a concerned look on his face. (Mommy, I-is he?)

Misty sighed. "I don't know," she admitted. 'I hope so' she added in her thoughts. She then looked over at Ash who had been writing something on a piece of paper he had found.

"Whom are you writing to, Ash?" she asked him.

"Mom" he answered quietly and Misty craned her neck and saw what he had written. There were teardrop smudges scattered across it.

Dear Mom

I will be coming home for good, therefore discontinuing my journey. Misty, Pikachu and I had a horrible run in with Giovanni, the Team Rocket leader. He killed Pikachu right in front of me. I don't want to talk about it. I can't think of going on without him so I will be releasing all of my Pokémon at home. I'm sorry that I let you and dad down. Sorry

-Ash

he put it in an envelope, sealed and addressed it. he stared down at it for what seemed like ages as if deciding to send it or not. He then got up, went over to the trash can, tore it up into tiny pieces and tossed them into the trash bin.

One look at his face as he walked back to his seat and she knew why he chucked it . It was hard for him to explain why his journey was over in a letter to his mom. If she read it, she'd have to come clean with her past to him . Misty guessed that she was trying to forget about it. She would be the same way if Togepi were in Raichu's place.

"When I first got to Viridian City, I called Mom to let her know how I was doing," he said to Misty as he sat back down, a distant look in his eyes, like he wished he were somewhere else "S-she said that dad would have been proud of me. She never talked about him when I was growing up. All I ever wanted was to become the world's greatest pokémon master" he glanced up at the lighted needle sign above the Emergency Room's double doors, "but I guess this is the end of the road." He started bawling again. "I-If I-I wasn't t-the Ch-Chosen One, n-none of this would have h-happened, R-R-R-Raichu w-wouldn't be d-d-dying." Ash strangled on the words and then resumed crying. To make him feel better, Misty patted Ash on the back.

"It will be okay, Ash " she comforted him. "But, you did save the planet again and at least Psyduck finally evolved " she optimistically pointed out as she picked Togepi up and put him on Ash's lap. By now Ash had stopped crying and was rubbing Togepi's head half-heartedly as if he was trying to think of something.

"Yeah, but you were the one who figured out I was the one the legend talked about. Uh, speaking of that, I uh well uh, what I'm trying to say is that uh um." He stopped for a minute, searching for words to say, "I never got to thank you for that, Misty, so uh, thanks. I also want to thank you for sticking with me through this whole mess. It means a lot to me."

she felt her face blush. "You're welcome". She said back.

He resumed looking up at the lighted sign above the ER's double doors. He was like that for the next few hours. He didn't so much as look away when she let out Politoed and told him to cheer Ash up by using his long tongue to stand on his head. When that didn't work, she told him to dance while croaking the alphabet.

(Politoed is funny, Mommy) Togepi rolled on the floor with laughter. Misty looked over at Ash, who just sighed and then went back to looking at the lighted sign .

She returned him to his pokeball and picked Togepi, who had stopped laughing, up with her arms. "Excuse me?" Nurse Joy motioned to misty from the other side of the room so she walked over to her "You came in with the boy with the Raichu, right." Misty nodded. "Do you know how he lost all that blood and energy?" she asked.

Misty described it to Nurse Joy, omitting a few parts. She felt like she was reliving the events again as she explained them to the nurse.

XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX

Before she went to bed late that night in the bedroom the Center provided for Ash, Togepi and her, she quietly said "Ho-Oh, Mew, whoever is up there. it's me, Misty. You probably have witnessed the events that brought Ash and I here. I have one thing to ask of you. Please don't let Raichu die. Ash would be beyond brokenhearted. Raichu saved his life." Misty looked over at the next bed where he was asleep. He was so drained from that day's events – both mentally and physically- it had taken him little time to get changed for bed and even less time to fall asleep. "You saw how close they are . he's saved the world a bunch. please help him now."

(Mommy?) Togepi asked her sleepily.

She smiled at him. "You're supposed to be regaining your strength. Metronome takes up a lot of energy," She said as she got under the covers.

(That's a weally nice what you said. If I were a legendary , I'd answer it)

"I know you would. "

(N-night) he yawned before curling up into a ball, closing his little eyes and falling fast asleep. she gently put him next to her and pulled the cover over him so it covered the lower half of his body .She looked down at him lovingly and sighed.

As she looked up at the full moon through the windows and yawned , she thought she saw a large outline against the moon. 'No, it couldn't be.. He can't leave' the-' she didn't finish the thought as she yawned again, overcome with tiredness from the emotional exhausting day. Within a few seconds she was fast asleep.

When he was sure Misty and Togepi were both fast asleep, Ash- who'd been lightly sleeping-for he couldn't fall completely asleep- snuck out of bed, got a small blue box out of his jeans pocket & quietly walked out of the room, closing the door behind him. "umm... excuse me miss?" he asked a chansey on the night watch.

( yes?)

"th-there was an injured r-r-raichu that was brought in earlier . do you kn-know? -"

one look at his face and the kindly pink Normal type understood. (what room he is in?) he nodded. (come with me. I'll show you. )

she brought him down the corridor and to the left.. they stopped at a door mostly closed asides from a small crack. she opened the door all the way (that's so he gets some fresh air. He was ... gravely wounded but he's sleeping now)

"thanks" he walked quietly into the small room. The sight that welcomed him quickly turned his stomach and made him mentally sick. It was painful ignoring the IV fastened to Raichu's paw, or at the large bag of fluid attached to a stand on the left side of the bed pumping oxygen into his body through the IV. It was worse not to look at the machine next to his bed on the right connected to him by wires attached to his body. It monitored his heartbeat as thin waves on a computer screen next to the bed. Looking at a small table where the bloodied bullet shell had been made his face go pale. he forced himself not to look at it. the room's silence was only broken by the heartbeat machine beeping and the pokemon's quiet breathing.

"Hey, pal. I n-never thanked you for taking the g-gunshot for me" Ash choked as he approached the bed. "Are you up ?" he muttered as he stroked his fur, many parts of it swollen where Persian had bitten and slashed him.

A faint (huh?) replied. Raichu opened one eye slowly when he heard the voice. He turned around, looked up and managed a small smile. (hi.) The claw marks across the left side of his face were now faint scars thanks to Chansey and Blissey's help. the teen's face hardened for a few seconds at the sight of the gashes.

"you okay?"

(I-i think so. My body is in so much agony and pain.).

"for what you went through you look really good" , the human truthfully said. then after a minute he asked the one question on his mind ever since the incident. "H -how did you evolve without a Thunderstone? I thought it was impossible"

(it's... extremely rare to happen.. But you were in danger and I knew what I ..had to do. ) he slowly said. (besides. I had to save your life.. you did it for me the day we first met. Remember the Spearows?) Ash nodded. He would never forget that moment

_"Pikachu, get in the ball" Ash told him as he placed the enlarged, empty pokeball next to his battered body on the wet ground_

_( are you crazy? ) he shook his head at it. (forget it, human. No way.)_

_"I know you don't like it, but this way I'll be able to save you." he said and then stood up, faced the flock of Spearows flying in front of him and boldly said, "Spearows, do you know who I am? I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town and I'm going to be the world's greatest Pokémon master. Pikachu, get in the ball!" He ordered without turning away from the flock of angry birds , flapping their wings in the rain. "I can't be frightened by the likes of you. I'm going to defeat and catch you all. Come and get me"_

_He waited for the birds' impact but it never came. As if in slow motion Pikachu got up, jumped off the ground and as Ash watched, and into the air. The lightning from the rain gathered around him and he shocked the birds with an extremely large Thunderbolt in midair, letting out a loud "PIKKKKAAAAAAAACHUUU!"_

_The blast from it was so enormous that it not destroyed the bike Ash took from Misty and also knocked him to the ground. Being wet he also got hit with some of the electricity which knocked him out._

_The next morning, when he woke up to the sunlight and twittering birds_. _He saw Pikachu laying next to him on the ground, covered in cuts from the birds' attack. the young boy smiled._ _"Well, we beat them."_

_(We sure did... you know you're not that bad For a human)_

"I sure do" Ash replied and Raichu continued.

(when that despicable Persian and his copies were attacking me I tried to fight back against them but I was drained from creating the Substitute. I knew you wouldn't want me to give up so I gave it my all. )

"the speech you said to that Persian was so moving."

(thanks. I couldn't hold on much longer after he pounced on me and I thought that I didn't have any strength left due to the blood loss. But when it said those comments you being a weakling and pathetic really hit deep. I knew what I had to do to save your life and my own. That was when I snapped. You're the best human friend I could have. Don't tell anyone, but I wouldn't want anyone else except you to train me.

"I won't." Ash said, feeling tears roll down his face. "I-I want you to the first one to know" He said as he reached into his pocket, pulled out the blue box and opened it to show him what was inside.

It was a magnificent- looking ring with a small Water Stone piece cut into Misty's initials: MIW. These three letters stood for Misty Imusak Waterflower, which was Misty's full name. The ring's band was an aquamarine color that matched her eyes.

"After all, you were the one who brought us together. Well technically it was the Spearows that were chasing us but still." Ash said as he closed the box and put it away in his pocket.

He closed his eyes. in his mind images of some of the past day's events started to come up seriatim at once: Waking up on Lawrence's airship Reuniting with Pikachu. Psyduck standing up to Lawrence saving Misty's life and evolving. Giovanni entering the whole situation, Pikachu getting hit by that delayed Future Sight attack. Pikachu evolving . Giovanni threatening to kill him . And the worst of all, watching Raichu take the bullet intended for him. This last scene kept recurring over and over in ash's mind. He had to open his eyes to stop it.

when he did he instantly knew something was wrong. Looking back down at the bed where Raichu lay, he saw that his eyes were closed. He felt the mouse's body with his hand, which felt cold whereas a few minutes ago it had been warm and gasped . There was a stillness in the room- no breathing asides from his own . He looked up to the machine that monitored Raichu's heartbeat. It stopped showing the weak waves and now a flat line was appearing on the screen. "oh no…oh no."

A huge lump in his throat rose, the boy knew what that flat line meant. At that moment the reality hit Ash like a herd of stampeding Ponytas. Raichu, his first ever pokémon was dead, taken from him in a bold act of sacrifice. Before he knew it, tears were streaming out of his eyes and down his face.

**I close my eyes**

**And I can see**

**The day we met**

_Their first meeting and the Spearows_

**Just one moment and I knew**

**You're my best friend**

**'Do anything**

**For you**

_Getting the SuperPotion for him_

_Their many battles with Team Rocket_

**We've gone so far**

**And done so much**

**And I feel**

**Like we've always been together**

_the battle with Raichu_

**Right by my side**

**Through thick and thin**

**You're the part of my life**

**I'll always remember**

_All their times together_

**The time has come**

**It's for the best I know it**

**Who could've guessed that you and I...**

**somehow, someday**

**We'd have to say goodbye.**

_Reuniting with one another after Ash released him briefly_

**You've helped me find**

**The strength insid**

**And the courage**

**To make all my dreams come true**

_Their battles in the Indigo Championship and the Orange Crew finals_

**How will I find**

**Another friend**

**Like you**

_Huddling with him and other pokemon in that cave during the snowstorm_

**Two of a kind**

**That's what we are**

**And it seemed**

**Like we were always winning**

_All of their gym battle wins_

**But as our team**

**Is torn apart**

_The fierce battle on the airship and his unexpected evolution_

**I wish we could go**

**Back to the beginning**

_ The vicious fight with the Persians and Raichu's surprising evolution _

**The time has come**

**It's for the best I know it**

**Who could've guessed that you and I...**

**Somehow, some way**

**We'd have to say goodbye.**

_Giovanni firing the gunshot and Raichu taking the bullet_

**Somehow today...**

**...we have to say goodbye**

"NOOOOOOOO!" Ash sobbed and his hot tears fell onto Raichu's lifeless fur. "Raichu, please don't-Huh?

he stopped as a single teardrop fell onto the mouse's body and an effulgent white light, not unlike the glowing light of evolution, covered the still body.

He watched as his body started growing smaller, the scars from the Persian vanishing. Yellow fur washed across his shrinking body replacing the red-orange fur. His ears grew smaller as did his tail. His body stopped shrinking and the light disappeared, leaving a Pikachu in the Raichu's spot. Ash looked up at the screen next to the bed that monitored his pokémon's heartbeat. It stopped going in a flat line and started going in enormous waves. He felt a small lick on his hand and looked down at him and smiled.

(ash? Wh-what happened? Why do I have an IV in my paw?)

"Shh, pal. Everything's going to be okay" Ash said to restore confidence in him. "Do you remember what happened just now?"

Pikachu looked confused (no. why?)

Ash bit his lip. "y-you left this world for a few minutes, pal" ash said plainly.

( you mean...I d-died?) he nodded. (but-) the mouse fell back asleep. apparently coming back from the dead – on top of everything else - had utterly wiped him out.

Before Ash fell asleep, he heard a familiar pokémon voice in his head "Chosen One, I have saved your Pikachu's life for you saved mine twice now. He is a very special Pikachu and I now see why you two are destined to be together. May we meet again in the future,.

"Lugia…?"

XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX

Afterwards Misty told him when Nurse Joy came into the room the next morning to check on Raichu she couldn't believe her eyes. The mouse, who had pretty much been on death's doorstop, had changed back to a Pikachu. Aside from a cracked rib and one or two slash marks on his body, there wasn't a sign he had been inches from dying or that none of the events Misty had told her the night before had ever taken place. She was baffled at what had happened but he knew better.

Also all of his pokémon were next to or nearby him. Noctowl had watched the door while Cyndaquil kept Ash and Pikachu warm with her body. Totodile was asleep behind them under the window-he'd been guarding it all night, ready to bite anyone who tried to sneak up on his trainer. His Bayleef had fallen sound asleep, her head on his knee and Phanpy was asleep at his feet, her trunk on his shoe. Misty said Chansey found this out when she went to check out a noise in their room that night, which turned out to be the pokémon getting out of their pokéballs and coming into the room where they were.

Later that next day while Pikachu was getting a check-up to make sure he was okay since he had gone through a great ordeal in the last two days, Ash slipped the blue box with the ring into Misty's bag while she was getting Golduck checked over. He sat back down as she came back into the waiting room, Togepi in her arms "So, um, is he okay?" he asked her, trying to make conversation.

"He's perfectly healthy according to Nurse Joy. She told me that Psyduck really must have cared for me when Lawrence was twisting my arm and threatening to kill me to evolve into such a handsome Golduck. Togepi also had a check up too, didn't you baby?" Misty happily asked Togepi.

(Nurse Joy said she should be weally proud of me for making the mean man's ship explode) Togepi beamed at Ash, who could only smile feebly

"That's great, Togepi" he said, his stomach feeling like there was a flock of Butterfrees in it.

Misty sat down next to him. "Is something bothering you, Ash? You don't seem like yourself today." She asked him.

'aside from the fact that there is a ring and a note that explains my feelings for you inside your bag, nothing,' he thought. Instead he gulped, faced her and said, "There is nothing wrong with me, Misty. Honest."

She looked at him strangely as if to say, "Yeah right" so he grinned uneasily as if to prove it and after a minute of silence he got up and ran past her, muttering something about the restroom. As he did, he felt his face redden.

she stared at his retreating form as he went to the restroom, but went into the Emergency Room's double doors instead. She sighed, rolled her eyes and shook her head. 'boys act so weird,' she thought as she put Togepi on the floor. Next she picked up her bag, lifted it onto her lap and looked for her journal, a small book that she was able to write in when she pretended to be asleep so Ash wouldn't see its contents, most of which included her deepest thoughts about him. This would be a perfect time to write about what had happened in the past two days but instead of her diary Misty pulled out a small blue box. "What's this?"

(What's in there,?) Togepi asked her as she looked at the box.

"I don't know." She answered. He watched Misty as she opened it. "Holy freaking Miltank." her eyes went wide and her jaw dropped.

In the center was a ring with three tiny pieces of a Water Stone that were carefully cut into three individual letters, M.I.K., These three letters stood for Misty Imusak Waterflower, which was her full name. The ring's band was an exquisite aquamarine blue color with lines of ocean blue mixed in. Misty just stared at the ring in awe for a few minutes. A note written in neat blue ink, as if the person writing it had taken time to decide on the words, next to it read:

We met each other by accident

I know our meeting was to be meant.

Throughout the years we've developed into close friends

Will you become my girlfriend?

I know at times you think I don't have a clue

But to be honest I really do love you.

-A.I.K

Misty lifted Togepi up onto her lap so he could see it (It's beautiful, Mommy. Are those emitals?) He pointed at the A.I.K at the bottom of the note with a tiny finger and she nodded.

"Its pronounced initials. It stands for Ashton Ihsotas Ketchum" Misty corrected him.

Togepi was confused by the name. (who is Ayysh-ton eye-suit-taze?) Togepi had trouble pronouncing the name.

" It's pronounced Ih-so-tas " she corrected him

(Oh, who is he?)

"That's Ash, sweetie" she explained dreamily as she put the ring on her right hand and just stared at it for a few minutes.

(uh mommy...)

She looked up and saw her crush standing in front of her, his face redder than a Flamethrower attack. Raichu, no, Pikachu was on his usual post on Ash's shoulder.

At first she blinked and rubbed her eyes with her hands to make sure she wasn't dreaming. No, she wasn't seeing things- there was Pikachu. Asides from a sash-like white hospital bandage around his ribs and a faint slash mark on his face , he looked normal. Like nothing had happened to him at all, like he hadn't been inches away from death the night before, never evolved without a thunderstone. She and Togepi stared at him for a few minutes, looking from him to ash back to the electric type "how did you...I saw you get hit with ... but you were a Raichu.. "

Pikachu lightly jumped off Ash's shoulder onto the chair next to her. (I don't know what happened. )

"maybe it's fate for you to be this way"

He shrugged. (probably)

Misty put Togepi on the floor and placed the box with the note gently in her backpack on the floor "Uh. I see that you got my ring" Ash said.

"Oh, y-yeah I d-did" Misty responded.

"I was going to give it to you back in the gym, away from your sisters,. you kinda yelled at me and." he stopped mid sentence, bit his lip and looked down at his shoes for a minute or two. There was no need to finish the sentence. the events were fresh in their minds and didn't need to be reminded.

'I wondered what he was going on about. I can't believe that we both loved each other but were both as stubborn as Tauros to admit it to one another ' Misty thought as she peeked down at the ring for a few seconds. 'He's got a lot more guts than me"

He looked back up at her. "I-I need to tell you something, Misty. I really like you more than a friend. I l-l-"

(Love) Pikachu suggested.

"L-love you." Ash finished

Misty's face went the color of a rose. Togepi smiled, he knew what she was going to say for it was something that she hadn't yet told the black haired boy. "I have something to tell you too. I l-love you with all my heart, Ash Ketchum. What happened on the ship only made me realize how much I care for you. " she stood up as went right up to him and kissed him right on the lips, something she had wanted to do since she came across him just about four years ago, well really since the whole Lugia incident.

"Uh I-" Ash started to say but Misty surprised him by planting her lips onto his and kissing him. This was not what he expected whatsoever! It was beyond amazing- fireworks seemed to explode as They kissed passionately for an eternity, well it seemed that way to Misty.

Ash didn't remember leaving the Center. he was in a daze after that kiss, his first real kiss a girl who was now his girlfriend. Once they had walked for about five minutes, Misty asked him how he had managed to pay for the ring, which she kept looking at. "All the money from the battles-" he started

that reminded misty of something. "Wait a minute, you still owe me a battle from the gym " she interrupted.

"I do not!" Ash protested.

"You do too!" Misty responded to him.

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

"Do not!"

Do too!"

"Do not!"

Do too!"

"Do not!"

"Do too, you and I never ended the battle at the Cerulean Gym. I would have creamed you real bad if Jessie, Meowth and James hadn't stormed in and disrupted our battle".

"Everyone knows I could cream you with Muk alone, Misty. But he'd take one look at your face and fall in love." Ash regretted this as soon as he realized what he said . "eep!" 'Why didn't I keep my big mouth shut?' he thought.

Sometimes he didn't think before he spoke which landed him in a lot of hot water- this was undeniably one of those times. He was so going to get it. He began to slink away but he only got about a few inches away before Misty became a violent volcano. her head grew ten times larger and her mouth seemed to have taken on fangs, all within a minute. Her pupils seemed to be on fire and her veins popped out of her forehead. She could have scared the crud out of Jessie, Meowth and James with her scary facial expression .

"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN, ASH KETCHUM?" she yelled at the top of her lungs as she ran after him, her mallet in one hand, Togepi was in the other.

(Bad choice of words. She's going to hunt you down like a Growlithe for that comment.) Pikachu said as he clung to Ash's shoulder with his paws as Ash steered clear of the blows of the mallet.

"I know, pal. I have got to learn to watch what I say or you can Thunderbolt me every time I say something stupid, like that… for example." Ash said to him as he ran as fast as he could as if his life depended on it, which in a way it did. 'At least she's not bugging me about that stupid bike anymore,' he thought

Narrator: Now that the mess with Lawrence is over, what new adventures and friends will our two heroes come upon next? Will Ash ever learn to think before he speaks? Will Lawrence continue to chase them? I don't know the answers to those questions since I'm not psychic nor know Future Sight

the end

very Long Author's note: How's that for an ending? Since Ash and Misty don't confess their love for one another in the show, I made it occur in my story. Did you know that the kiss and the ring were the reasons I wrote this superb, romantic story? shocked at Pikachu's evolution? Wasn't it exciting? Happy with the ending ? No one knows what attacks Giovanni's Persian knows. It's impossible that Persian knows recover, Future Sight and Conversion2-. How it learned them even I DON'T know. it's also unlikely for Golduck to know Recover, but I needed him to use confuse ray and telekinesis to confuse Persian and to get the cage away from puzzled cat so I used a quick recovery move. To my knowledge, Lugia didn't speak to Charizard in the film but I think he heard what Lugia was saying when he was inside his pokeball. I'm aware Lawrence is crueler than he is in the movie. I think his obsession for revenge twisted his mind. As stated before, this fic takes place in between Misty's Poliwhirl evolving and Ash meeting Clair in _Beauty is skin deep_. In the fic Misty inquires of Charizard if he forgot that he has "a girlfriend back at the Charific Valley? You know, Charla?" But in the show it isn't said until Great Bowls of Fire by Clair that Charizard has a romantic relationship with Charla, being her bodyguard and "knight in shining armor".

. If you're wondering about the whole evolving-without-a-stone thing, well I guessed it's like the friendship evolution. Did anyone like Charizard's explanation of what inside a pokeball is like? I just had to put Jessie, James and Meowth's "We're blasting off again" line in. What's a fic without that line-too classic! use your imagination to figure out what kind of attack Togepi used to make the airship explode and to find out what happened to Lawrence and Gio. they don't die . Did you love the talon ? I crack up every time I read it! I didn't put Brock in this fic since he's a source of comic relief- he takes away from the true romance plus in my belief he couldn't get a girlfriend if he were the last guy in Johto, so I had Charizard flirt. Weird how I mention him three times in the fic yet he's not in it? you figure out how Ash knew Misty's middle name and vise versa. If Gio is Ash's dad, I don't know, maybe he is, maybe he isn't, better than Oak being his dad. No offense to any Eldershippers reading this but if that were true he would be Gary 's uncle. EWW! I think that he and Delia like each other. I hope that you liked it . please read and review my other stories. Thanks.

Thanks again! please review and check out my other stories


	5. side story: Pikachu's choice

Pikachu's choice by Wyldclaw

Summary: what if Pikachu had a choice at the end of P2K II: Lawrence's Revenge fic? What if he could get a glimpse of what would happen if he hadn't been brought back to life? Side story to P2K II: Lawrence's Revenge in our fave mouse's POV so major spoilers for readers who haven't read it yet. I DO NOT OWN ANY POKEMON CHARACTERS MENTIONED! Thanks.

Important stuff : () Indicate translated pokémon speech, ' mean thoughts, _italics_ mean it's a scene that s being watched, " " humans talking/ telepathic voice. Also even though Pikachu only died for about five minutes, time will flow differently in the sort-of cross world I created . the Deathball, Koji, the hybrid Hypno plus the whole thing about ash's dad are mine so paws off. Also Giovanni is crueler than he was in the two parter. How so? Uh Well…. I'm not gonna give that away so you'll have to read on. Oh yeah you might want a box of tissues next to you when you read it

XxX

After Ash showed me the ring I felt so weak and exhausted that I decided to close my eyes for a minute.

When I opened them again I saw that I was in a sunny clearing in a forest. (Huh? What happened?) I asked myself. (Where am I? How did I get here?')

The sun was shining through the trees but there was not a single sound to be heard. It was quiet- way too quiet. there was not even a hint of a breeze. 'Strange' I thought as I got to my paws. 'You'd think there would be Pidgeys around' .

(Hello? Any one there?) I called out but there was no answer. (Misty? Ash? Togepi?) No answer. I tried again but there was no response.

A thought hit me as a chill went through my fur . (What if-what if that tiredness wasn't just that? What if I'm d-d-) I couldn't bear to hear myself say the word: dead.

(no! it's gotta be a dream. I'll close my eyes and – and wake up in the Center) I squeezed my eyes shut for a minute and then reopened them. nothing had changed - I was right where I was.

I gulped. (m-maybe I should pinch myself awake in-YIPES!) I yelped as I looked down at my front paws . (what's happened to me?)

I did a double take. The right one was a stubby yellow/brown Raichu paw while the left one was half yellow half brown. I got on all fours, turned my head around and saw that the rest of my body was covered in yellowish brown fur, like a Raichu's. My back paws were two yellow-furred paws, like a regular Pikachu's and a long thin, lightning bolt shaped tail next to a Raichu's tail. I wouldn't be surprised to find that I had one ear like a Pikachu and one ear like a Raichu.

I felt my heart race madly so I had to catch my breath. (Okay, Pikachu, calm down. Calm down) I told myself. So many thoughts ran through my head: 'How had I become this mixture of Raichu and Pikachu? Where was I? How had I gotten here? What was going on?'

"Peace young one " an unknown pokémon voice answered out of nowhere. I looked around but didn't where the voice came from or where the speaker was. It seemed to be coming from around me. It didn't seem to be a voice I recognized. "You must be confused about why you are here"

(Um... yeah) I was at a loss at what to say. This pokémon or whatever it was sounded like it could read minds and talk like a human . It did not have a stern voice like Mewtwo but it seemed to know why I was here. (Am I alive?)

The voice paused for a minute. "I am afraid that you are in a sort of cross-worlds. You have saved many, many lives with your selfless sacrifice"

'Sacrifice?' I thought with a gulp. (But wouldn't that imply I'm...) I stopped, holding back my despair as well as my tears.

"Normally yes, "it explained. "But since you saved numerous lives humans and pokémon alike from evils too cruel to mention, the powers that be have decided to grant you your heart's desire. in other words, any wish. "

( I-I-…)I didn't know what to say. 'I could go back to when I first met Ash and not be the stubborn mouse I know I was then ... I could stop him from hitting the Spearow. I could wish he wasn't the chosen one at all.' Then another thought occurred to me if I moved on, how would it affect my friends?' ( I- I don't know what to chose.)

The unseen pokémon chuckled, interrupting my thoughts. "I know why you are troubled , young one. You want to move on yet you don't. You are afraid. You care for your trainer and friends and want to know if moving on will affect them." the creature read my mind again. "That is why you are stuck in between forms."

(Oh.) So that's why I was half Raichu half Pikachu!

" If you wish to know what will happen if you pass on I can show you," it concluded.

(Well...) I was torn. Did i really want to find out? I shifted my paws uneasily.

"I can sense your hesitation. I shall show the alternate timelines to you for then you shan't wonder," it spoke. I nodded. I noticed a thick veil of mist taller than a tree had suddenly appeared in front of me. Past that there was a pool of what seemed like water.

(Is that where I'll see that. alternate time line?) I asked.

"Yes" the unknown voice agreed. "But this is like a viewing screen- you can see the humans and pokémon in that timeline but they cannot see or hear you since…"

I gulped. I had to say it. (I d-d-died from the bullet to my heart) I ended in a whisper.

"Yes. " the voice sadly concurred. "When you are ready, let me know your choice. " It ended. The mist in the center began to change into a light screen like barrier. The mist behind it formed a scene I really didn't want to see. The scene was back where I had left my trainer .

_Nurse Joy was saying something that I couldn't hear to Misty and Togepi who were in the doorway of the hospital room that Ash and my alternate corpse were in. Misty failed to hold back tears as she and Togepi rushed to his side and gave him a huge hug._

I knew what she had told them and had felt tears run down my fur.

_Ash looked up and I noticed that my friend's face was totally tear stained and puffy as if he had been crying all night and his eyes were red._

I beat my paws on the barrier (No!) I cried. (Ash! Look up! I'm here!) But I knew it was useless so I stopped

_Without saying a word Nurse Joy put an enlarged black and gray pokeball in Ash's trembling right hand. "I'm sorry. This shouldn't have happened to a brave pokémon," She said, looking like she was choking back tears herself. "This is a special pokeball called a Deathball. It is kept in Centers in case something like this happens. It is used for trainers who wish to put their departed pokémon in a final resting place other than the Center or lavender town. It keeps the body preserved." she explained. "Do you have a place in mind, young man?" _

_He automatically said, "Y-yes, I-I do"_

_"I'll leave you alone" she said as she left the room and closed the door behind her._

_Misty looked at Ash. "What place do you have in mind for his resting place?"_

_He smiled weakly. "It's the best place for him. I-I h-hope he l-likes it " he choked .He gulped as he took the Deathball in his hand and faced it toward my body. He bit his lip hard, drawing blood, and strangled on the words, "re-re-re-return p-p- r-r-rai- Raichu"_

_A gray beam engulfed my body and sucked it into the Deathball. Ash minimized it and stared at it._

_(Is Waichu in a better place, Daddy?) Togepi asked him. (Is he safe from the bad men?)_

_I could tell the two humans did not know how to answer this. "I hope so, Togepi" Misty told him. "I hope so"_

_"Now comes the hard part...telling the other Pokemon " _

I felt myself shuddering when the scene behind the barrier changed. But this time I couldn't hear what was being said.

_My human friends-both looking stone- faced and Togepi had left the Center. They saw a patch of uneven ground a few feet away. __ Misty bent down and picked up a heavy stone. She then went up to her full height and threw it into the uneven path. As soon as it hit it's mark, the soil fell and two thick rubber nets fell down over the pitfall trap's opening._

_He said something loudly while calling out Bayleef, who used Razor Leaf on a nearby bush. The three idiots of Team Rocket popped out- with scratched clothes and began to say their stupid motto but Ash cut them off with his hand._

_I saw the confused looks on Jessie, Meowth and James' faces when they didn't see me and noticed the grim faced expression on my best friend's face. When they asked where I was Ash brought out the Deathball and explained what it was . As he did their expressions changed to one of horror- struck. He started saying something- probably about what life felt like without his best friend, his eyes and face glistening with tears as he put it back. He got furious at them-the three people whose boss had killed me. How many times had we worked together? He'd have ran at them if Bayleef hadn't used Vine Whip around his middle to hold him back. although the Rockets were shocked at hearing of my demise apparently Giovanni had told them to bring us or rather him- in. They brought some kind of net behind them but he stood stock-still._

_Suddenly an Ember attack came out of nowhere and burnt the net to cinders. A large orange dragon like figure flew down and landed on the ground. Ash, Misty and Togepi all mouthed Charizard's name in awe._

_He gave them a cold hard look before whacking them past the horizon with an Iron Tail attack. __They screamed as they were sent past the horizon. His tail went back to normal and he snorted. Ash looked at his old pokemon and gave him a huge hug, tears falling down his face. He didn't care who saw him now,_

The mist reappeared behind the barrier. 'So Charizard would come back?' I thought. To no one in particular I stated (the look on his face when he faced Jessie, Meowth and James was horrible)

The mist dissolved and a new scene replaced it. I was watching a scene happening on Lightning Island.

_I saw many black shadowy nets and Night Shades cover Zapdos as he was flying through the air. He plummeted to the ground and crashed and there were a lot of shouts of_

_"GOT IT!"_

_"Over their boss!_

_"It fell this way!"_

_A group of Rattatas and a raticate came out of a bush next to where the great titan of lightning had crashed and was struggling to get up and break free with Thundershocks and Thunderbolts. But nets drained him of his electricity every time he tried. They nudged Zapdos' feathers, pleading with the bird._

_(Sire! You have to escape) they begged. (The humans are coming! You must flee)_

_(Who knows what will happen if they get their hands on you)_ _the smallest one had fear in its eyes as it said this._

_The electric type sighed (My bond are too tight, I cannot break free. Spread the word to the other titans and legendaries, they must flee at once. I fear the humans will want me for my power). The bird turned to the raticate. I noticed there was a thin gold band around its neck and it was slightly bigger than an average raticate. (Ratta?)_

_(Yes, my lord?) It bowed._

_The sounds of the humans were growing louder now._ _(Warn the others) the legendary told the rat_

_I guessed that Ratta was a sort of messenger. (But my lord-) it was clearly confused_

_(GO!) Zapdos squawked._

_The rats fled and there was a shot of a hand holding a syringe with some liquid in the middle and the scene switched to Zapdos looking at Giovanni, his Persian and another team rocket member._

_There was something different about the titan of lightning now. It eyes were completely darkened and there was a black band around it's leg. It gazed at me with those dark piercing black orbs and I shivered. I felt like it could see right past the barrier, right into my soul. _ _" It's perfect" Giovanni was saying to the other rocket member. "It looks just like the real thing. Asides from the dark eyes there is No tell tale signs that it is a clone."_

I let out a gasp. 'What? I-I thought Mewtwo erased his memory about the clones. How did he...?' I stopped my train of thought. I didn't think I wanted to know.

_(Not one bit, Master) Persian agreed with his trainer._

_"Thanks to my hybrid Hypno, it has no free will and will obey us without fail" the other rocket member said. "And the real Zapdos remembers nothing and is in our grasp . All we have to do is beckon it. "_

_"Well done Koji. I must say i am very impressed with your work". The team rocket leader laughed. It was a cruel, cold laugh that made my fur stand on edge. "One down, many to go"_

I shook as the scene disappeared. I didn't like what I had seen. "Not pretty, is it" the unseen pokemon's voice startled me and I jumped. I had forgotten about it

(No, it's not.) I admitted (how did he know about clones?)

The voice sighed. "I don't know. Perhaps he had back up files or something…"

(The look it gave me… I felt chilled to the bone)

"There is one last scene you must see before you make your choice, young one. It is something you must see happen with your own eyes so I will transport you " the voice said.

I caught my breath as the chilly mist engulfed me as well as my surroundings. As it did my gut told me that something bad was gonna happen

_The mist evaporated as a small grassy hill next to a dirt path appeared. It sloped down to a river and there was a stretch of sand next to the pool of water. I had a sudden chill of déjà vu when I glanced at the water and then the dirt path, even though it was a warm day._

'This place seems very familiar' something nagged at the back of my mind about it.

_Next to the path at the top of the slope, I walked up and saw a small gravestone with a human and a large bird pokémon sitting to the right of the mound of earth next to it. I didn't have to even guess whom the grave belonged to or who the human was. It was spooky, knowing that in this timeline i was lying beneath the headstone, motionless._

_I crept up, knowing full well that Ash or Pidgeot couldn't hear or see me. I got a closer peek around the gravestone._

_He looked if anything sadder than the first vision. There was a haunted look in his eyes. There was a strange small locket around his neck on a thin chain I had never seen him wear. I noticed that there was a single pokeball on his belt and I moved a few inches closer._

_He was talking to his old Pidgeot, the one he left to protect the Pallet Town Pidgeys and Pidgeottos._

_"It's just so hard...knowing that he..."_

_Pidgeot nudged her beak against his cheek and patted him on the back with her left wing in a kind gesture. (I know it's hard. I still can't believe it myself. He packed a lot of power) Ash nodded.m (Remember how he knocked me out with a single Thundershock when I was a 'geotto and you captured me ? My wings were sore the next day)_

_I saw a slight smile cross onto ash's face. "You seemed fine to me."_

_Pidgeot let out a chuckle. (Sure ash. you try having a huge blast of electricity hit your body. Then we'll talk about how much it stings especially for flying types like yours truly )._ _She joked. She had seen me zap Ash numerous times when she was with us._

_He sighed. (What's in that locket?) She asked him_

_" Oh, it's pictures of… happier times" he took off the chain, opened it and showed the flying type. Apparently there were two or three pictures and although I couldn't see the pictures, I heard the remarks._

_(Is that from your first day together?)_

_"Yeah. We didn't exactly see eye to eye at first but that changed after the Spearow incident "_

Then it hit me why the pond and the path looked so familiar. (It's where the Spearow flock attacked us) I whispered. 'No wonder why he smiled when he said he knew a perfect place for my grave. It's where we really bonded and met misty. '

_(Nice pajamas) she smirked. (And nice hairdo)_

_He blushed with embarrassment for a few seconds. " I smashed my alarm clock during the night and overslept. The hair is because he didn't like how I was trying to recall him into the pokeball and then mom called him weird"_

_(I remember that one. That's from the day I evolved) she puffed out her chest importantly for a few seconds (now I'm the Pallet Town Pidgey Protector)_

_"That's a mouthful. How do trainers know that you're unable to be caught?"_

_(I'm still bonded to my pokeball.) She motioned to the ball on his belt (plus.) she lifted up her right leg. There was a yellow band with the words Pallet Pidgey Protector in black letters on it. She put her leg down (Oak made it for me. the viridian Joy and Jenny both know who I am)_

_"Nice. Have you seen this one? It's after I beat the Orange Crew"_

_(Your mom has a big picture of it on the mantle. It's a good one. I heard about that battle, it sounded like it was intense. Are those pieces of fur from when you were digging the...) He nodded. I knew she refrained from saying the word grave._

_There were a few minutes where ash just looked at the pictures. "Hard to imagine that beating the Orange Crew was shortly after the whole Shamuti island mess". He closed the locket and put it back around his neck._

_He noticed Pidgeot standing up to her full height, stockstill-her eyes trained on the sky. "What's up?"_

_(Something's wrong.) She turned her gaze to him. (I can feel it. Ash! Get ready to run when I say so) she told him._

_I saw a brown blur coming from straight at him! Ash looked above and saw it as well_ _(NOW!) she yelled and he didn't need telling twice. He jumped up and ran a few feet away. Out of total instinct I bolted out of the way from behind the tombstone and hid in a nearby bush, forgetting for a few seconds that I didn't exist here._

_A thin razor sharp brown beak punctured the ground where Ash had been sitting mere seconds ago at least four times before the beak's owner pulled back. There were deep puncture marks in the earth._

_"That was close" he caught his breath._

_(You're telling me) Pidgeot agreed._

_(Pidgeot, speak with me) a voice spoke. Ash and Pidgeot looked up and saw a Fearow, a large tan cormorant-like bird with a vulture-like neck, hover about ten feet above them. Aside from a scar down one side of its face and its normally black eyes being a glazed red color, it was a normal looking Fearow._

I realized something when I looked at the flying type's eyes. (It's being controlled) I whispered to myself

_Pidgeot ruffled her feathers. (FEAROW!) She glared at the bird as she flew up to face it (I thought I made it clear the last time that you that you and your gang were never to be seen again in Pallet town. And this-) she jerked her head to indicate the gravestone and the pond (is considered Pallet . make like a drum and beat it before things get ugly.)_

_Fearow didn't respond. It was staring over her at Ash. (Get rid of the bird and get The boy. Get the boy) it spoke under it breath. Then as if someone was controlling it squawked (hand over the human and you shall live.)_

_She Ruffled her feathers . (And what do you want with him? I recall that you and your flock hate him even more so after that attack at the party. Besides birdbrain, he's much smarter than you. )_

_The human managed a smile but Fearow ignored this. (Hand over the human) he repeated. (Refuse to do so and… you will regret it)_

_(Really? I'm supposed to believe you'll let me go?) The eagle like bird paused. (You can have him...over my dead carcass!) She said as she used Quick attack to ram into the bird._

_Fearow squawked in pain as the attack connected with it's body. It leered at Pidgeot. (Your funeral )_ _its eyes glowed and there were suddenly seven other Fearows flying around her._

_"no, not again. "Ash mumbled. He was frozen in place as the Fearows dodged Pidgeot's attacks and countered with their own attacks. I knew he was remembering the Persians' attack on me as the flying type's feathers turned red._

_Each Fearow's wing glowed silver and then rushed at Pidgeot. She managed to avoid two or three of them by using her Wing Attack but got struck by the rest. The Fearows then used Quick attack on her._ 'Ouch, that is going to hurt' I thought

_She was sweating now. I noticed that there was a deep cut on her side from either the Steel Wing or the Peck attacks. More cuts danced on her body. I knew she was more concerned with Ash's safety than her own injuries. "Are you okay? " ash called over up her. "That looked like it hurt."_

_(I'm fine. I got slashed but nothing's broken. The Fearows are hovering-) she stopped as she noticed their beaks beginning to spin like drills. The birds all zoomed passed her._

_(Oh, no you don't) Pidgeot glared at them as a white outline covered her body and she rushed at the birds, The Fearows turned around and attacked her with their Drill Pecks. They punctured her right wing with their beaks. The white outline her body disappeared as the sky attack failed. _

_(AAAHHHHHHHHHH!) She screamed as she crashed on the ground. Ash yelled her name out as he rushed over to her, skinning his jeans to help her up. She was holding her right wing at an odd angle. It was reddish tan and dripped blood onto the grass._

_"Let me see it" he said and gingerly she showed him the wing. "It looks like the attack hit a major vein. "_

_I noticed that the fake Fearows disappeared and the Fearow's eyes went back to normal. (Huh? ) It took one look at Pidgeot and then flew out of sight._

_(That stupid lousy Fearow mangled up my good wing) she muttered. ( when I get my talons on him…) and then winced in pain._

_"Do you want me to carry you to the viridian pokemon center?"_

_She managed a chuckle. (No offence but I'm no caterpie. I weigh eighty-seven pounds and you're just a human)_

_He unclipped her pokeball and maximized it. He showed it to her. "None taken. You wouldn't mind being in it until I get you to Viridian?"_

_(Not at all) she winced, he pointed the ball at her and recalled her as a red beam sucked her inside. He minimized it and clipped it on to his belt. " I'll make sure that nurse joy takes a look at her wing." he got up and looked over at my grave for a few seconds._

_I followed him as he got to the path and began walking but first he paused. "It's almost like Fearow knew that she was my transportation back home and that's why it went for her wing" he shuddered. "The look on its red eyes was scary, it was like that time on Mandarin Island north when butch and Cassidy had that drowzee'-" his eyes went wide when he realized the very same thing I did. "Uh-oh."_

_He began running down the path when a really thick cloud of smoke engulfed us. Ash had to stop and began coughing. It was like no smoke cloud I had been in before- it was a heavy combination of a smoke cloud, haze and smokescreen. I couldn't see a few inches in front of me and I noticed lots of shining blue dust particles in the cloud. Being non-existent made me resistant to the Sleep powder particles but it did not stop my eyes from watering. I heard a big thud as the Sleep Powder took a hold of Ash and he fell on the path. I had to close my eyes because of the cloud and as I did I heard a familiar cold laugh._

_*When I opened them again the smoke cloud was gone and I noticed the scene changed but not for the better. _

_Ash was between two trees near my grave. His legs were bound by rope and his feet were frozen to the ground. Cassidy- Jessie's golden haired rival was holding his arms. On one side there were about four Houndooms. On the other side there were about five of this weird pokemon I had never seen before. It looked like a combination of a hyena and a wolf with black and grey fur and it had sharp looking fangs._

_A little apart from the Misty was tied to the trunk of a tree, with a gag over her mouth._

_Ash was trying to release Cassidy's grip on his arms_ _"let me go, Cassidy" he told her. I crept around the tombstone to get a closer look._

_*"Now why should I listen to a brat like you? Besides the Boss wants a friendly chat."_

_Misty caught his eye and shook her head. He snorted "a friendly chat? Why does that ruthless killer want to talk ? I'll tell him the same thing I told him last time: go to hell. He's a despicable power hungry ba -"_

_WHAM!_ _Cassidy slugged him in the cheek with her free hand. My fur bristled._ _"Shut your mouth. How dare you speak like that!" she glared. She took her hand away and I saw the area swelling where she had struck. "If it were up to me, i would have the Houndoom and Mightyena tear you apart for that comment."_ _The houdooms and those weird hyena pokemon, which I guessed were mightyenas bared their teeth at him and growled. It was an eerie sound._ _"Luckily for you..."_

_"He needs you alive" a scratchy voice ended. The speaker came from in front of them. Everyone looked up and saw butch, Cassidy's green haired partner walk toward them with something slung over his back._

_He stopped and un-slung thing he was carrying from his back. It wasn't a thing-it was ash's mom! She looked knocked out. I smelled what must have been a strong dose of chloroform on her._

_"What did you do to my mom Biff?" ash asked him angrily_

_"It's Butch! Can't you little pests ever get it right?" he said as he put Mrs. Ketchum's arms behind her and tied them together. He then put her on the ground next to misty. The rocket member then went and stood next to his partner._

_"You didn't..she's not-"_

_"No, boy." Giovanni's cold voice answered. "Just knocked out for quite a while". The Team Rocket leader was standing about five feet in front of them, that evoke loathsome Persian at his side. It looked toward me and thinking it could see me, I hid behind a tree and slowly moved around the clearing so I could see what was happening. As I did, I heard their conversation, my heart pounding in my throat._

_"...you want with me? Why did you knock my mom out? I swear when I'm free I'll -"_

_"Temper, temper. That attitude will get you into major trouble one day. It led your father to his death."_

_"W-what do you know about my father?_

_A laugh. "I was the one who arranged his death."_

_I stopped in my tracks. This touched a nerve in Ash. I never heard him talk about his dad. I peeked out behind a tree._ _My friend was furious. "You knew my father? And y-you killed him?"_

_"Certainly i did. He was a trainer who thought he could expose me. You have some of the same qualities as him: stubborn, reckless, a worthless compassionate streak."_

_Had his legs not have been frozen to the ground and Cassidy hadn't been keeping a tight grip on his arms, he would have lunged at Giovanni._ _"Why did you kill him?" he yelled but the team rocket leader said nothing._

_"Now-" Giovanni began but smoke bombs with sleeping powder mixed in engulfed the clearing. I heard the humans and pokemon coughing and sneezing ._

_As I took a peek out my hiding spot I noticed something: the major clouds of sleeping powder Weren't over ash and misty but rather the others. _

_I looked to the side and saw Meowth and Arbok run out of the cloud with gas masks . I listened to the cat and snake as they ran past me._

_"Did ya use yer Acid on da Ice Beam?" meowth whispered_

_(Of coursssse I did.) The snake stopped and looked in my direction. Meowth caught up to him. _

_"What did ya stop fer? Dem houndooms an' odd black pokemon will wake up an' sniff us out!" they started running again._

_(Thought i sssaw the moussse) the poison type muttered as he stopped again._

_"Ya couldn't have, arbok. He's… gone " Meowth shuddered as he climbed onto the snake's head._

_"Come on; slither as fast as ya can. Da smoke's fadin'" They quickly disappeared from my line of vision._

'What was meowth talking to Arbok about?' i thought as i walked toward the clearing. ' Why would he ask him if he used his Acid attack on the ice beam unless..."

_A strong gust of icy wind rushed at me interrupting my thoughts. It was so strong that i dug my paws and tails into the ground as hard as I could to keep from blowing away. Luckily the breeze only lasted a few minutes. I unhooked my paws and tails from the ground and inched out of my hiding place into the clearing._

_The cloud of smoke was gone and Butch was recalling a Cloyster that i was sure had used its Icy Wind to blow the smoke away. The Houndooms and Mightyena were sniffing the ground near and around Ash, who was on the ground. The ice beam around his legs had been eaten away by Acid. I saw the ropes around Misty had been cut and her gag was off but she was too terrified to move._

_One of the Houndooms barked something at the Persian._ _(Master, the Houndoom says it smells a meowth) it had an evil glint in its eyes as it said this._

_Giovanni smirked. "You two, " he meant Cassidy and Butch, "follow that trail with the houndoom and Mightyena. Track down those traitors and ... dispose of them. I know they're around here"_

A shiver went down my spine. 'He wants to murder them ' I thought.

_Cassidy nodded. "Houndoom team, follow that scent" the dark/fire types howled as they ran after the scent, with her at the back_

_._

_"Mightyena team, follow them!" butch commanded. The black hyena pokemon let out an eerie howl and then left out of sight, butch with them._

_It was just Giovanni, his Persian, Misty , ash and his unconscious Mom left in the clearing now . _ _Persian paced back and forth between them, ensuring they couldn't escape. Giovanni pulled a gun out of his vest pocket and glanced at his locket._

_"I know what's in that locket, boy."_

_"why do you care about some pictures?" the teen glared._

_"not the pictures, stupid boy. .. the fur."_

_" how do you know about that?"_

_"the Drowzee that possessed the Fearow was modified and thus able to show me what it saw. Once that blasted Pidgeot began to stop it I knew I had to get it a different way."_

_ Ash's eyes went wide. " you purposely injured her just to get your terrible hands on me?"_

_" Naturally." _

_(We know you miss-) Persian flicked its tail toward the grave. (the pesky rat .)_

_" he's- wasn't a rat!" Ash caught himself. _

_"I can make it come_ _back to life. Join me and give me the furs in that locket and I -"_

_"Clone him" Misty and Ash said at the same time._

_"What? How did you know? Only the top rocket scientists know about that! Say yes boy, and join me and it will be like it never was gone- "_

_" Never."_

_(I'd rethink that answer) Persian hissed ._

_Giovanni pointed the gun at ash, misty and his mom in turn._ _"What did you say?"_

_"I'm standing by my choice. I know you'll brainwash him into a ruthless cold-hearted Weapon. It's an insult to his memory to be turned into a mindless slave."_

_"I'm giving you an ultimatum: join team rocket and we can clone the raichu and I may let you train it...once. Or you can suffer even more by letting one of your loved ones die first."_

_My old trainer bit his lip. His gaze ping ponged from from the grave to his mom to Misty-who shook her head- and back again as if trying to decide._

_The villain's eyes settled on misty and he aimed the gun at her. Her eyes went wide with terror. "Time's up so how about we start with ... you!" he pulled the trigger._

I didn't want to watch so I squeezed my eyes shut for a few seconds. However that didn't block out the sounds of the gun being fired twice or a loud scream of pain. I had a sinking feeling in my stomach about what had happened and who had screamed. 'Please don't be who I think it is ' I prayed.

_I opened them. when I saw Ash in the fetal position on the ground and a growing red stain on the grass around him I knew my instincts were right._

_"Fool". Giovanni put the gun away. "Get that locket and finish him off. Then bring the girl to me" he ordered Persian._

_(Gladly Master) Persian lunged at them but as it jumped in the air it hit a strong purple barrier, which covered ash, misty, and mom. It was flung back about four feet._

_(What gives?) It hissed (who put up that barrier?) it said as it tried to get through again but with the same result._

_(I did) an angry voice said. All the humans looked and saw Togepi, his fingers glowing blue. Apparently he had popped out his pokeball during all this commotion._

_At the same time there were shouts of_

_"What?"_

_"Togepi?"_

_" That amount of power. ... It's incredible._

_The little pokemon ignored them and looked Giovanni in the eyes. It was strange to see him with an expression of pure hatred on his usually happy face. (You threatened m-my trainer 's life and tried to kill her. Your Persian nearly killed wai-Waichu, whom you murdered. you weally w-wounded dad-ash. You are a very bad man. You are wesponsible for trying to steal w-Waichu from dad-Ash. In the past few months you have weally, weally hurt the humans I care about. I can't stand it any more so I want you to GO FAR AWAY!) He yelled the last words as a big ball of electrical energy appeared between his hands. He fired the Zap Cannon attack, which shot through a hole, which had appeared in the barrier. The attack hit the Persian and then slammed into Giovanni._

_Then Togepi waved his hands twice, which glowed blue. He glowed red for a second and then unleashed a massive Dragonbreath attack through the hole in the barrier. It hit the team rocket leader and the Persian, which sent them flying into the air. As he was sent over the horizon, he let out a loud yell of "I'm not through with you yet!"_

_Togepi's hands went back to normal and the barrier disappeared. The first thing Misty did was run over to ash after telling Togepi to go wake up Mrs. K, who was still in a half drugged state. She knelt down on her knees when she got to him._ _"Ash! Why did you do that? That was so- so...stupid and brave... did the bullet... " She rolled him onto his back and gasped._

_" Barely... even... touched Me." there was a dark red stain on his vest that was growing larger. He gasped for breath. "'Sides it ... was. Necessary. vest pocket. Blue b-box"_

_she did just that and took out the box I knew contained the ring, and opened it. She looked at the note with wide eyes. "oh. I-I never realized you cared like that"_

_the male human nodded. " have done for a long time. promise me something Mist. T-take good care of mom and-" he coughed out red flecks, the bullet seemed to have hit a major organ or vein. "m-my pokemon when I'm gone. I'm also giving you " he paused to breath " my pokedex"_

_"what do mean, when you're gone? Don't say th-that. Y-you can't- you just can't. Don't d- leave me." she sobbed_

_he gave her a weak smile as his eyes closed for a few seconds and then he started coughing yet again.._

I noticed a car of some sort growing larger in the distance

_Mrs. K was awake by now and rushed over to her son's side. I couldn't bear it anymore so I walked up to the path, hearing her repeated sobs of telling ash he was going to be okay and to stay awake._

_The car stopped on the path. Out of it leapt meowth, Jessie and james. Mrs. K looked up at them. "please, " she pleaded, "can you help save my son? I don't care that you are part of team rocket, just , please help him"_

_Jessie, who had once been in training to be a nurse, ran past me, followed by James and meowth. I followed them._

_"We're not part of team rocket anymore." she told them._

_"Da- Giovanni put a huge price on our heads cause he found out dat we helped ya" meowth stated._

_they reached the area where every one else was. Jessie took one look at Ash's body. "He's not going last much longer unless he get medical attention."_

_(please can you take us somewhere where they can help him?) Togepi begged of them._

_"Dat's why we're here." meowth replied. "if we don't do someting soon, den..." he broke seeing the pained look in Mrs. Ketchum, Togepi and Misty's faces_

I closed my eyes in in order to hold back the tears and when i reopened them a minute later the scene had vanished and The forest clearing reappeared. The pool of water rippled.

I was shaking all over and sweating and had to sit down. I knew it was because of what I'd just seen. (take a deep breath, pikachu) I told myself. (Calm down. it wasn't real. It didn't really happen)

It was horrible, knowing in that timeline Ash did the same act for Misty that I did: sacrificed his own life for hers. It was bittersweet that he told Misty his true feelings and gave his pokemon to in what I was almost certain was his last hour.

'I couldn't believe that Jessie, meowth and James betrayed Giovanni and they got rid of ash and Misty's bindings. They really were good guys at heart' I thought. 'I can't get over that look in Togepi's eyes'.

I stopped shuddering a few minutes later. I knew I had to make my choice. Did I want to go back or allow the events that I had just seen to come true?'

The answer was obvious. I didn't really need a heartbeat to know what my choice would be. (No. I won't let those scenes come to pass) I said aloud as I stood up. As i said that I felt a slight breeze. I turned around and saw that the pool of water had gotten bigger. (I want to go back)

(Wise choice) a familiar giggly pokemon voice told me. 'Celebi?' I thought.

"Go to the edge of the pool." the unseen pokemon stated. I walked toward the pool and stopped at the edge. The water looked like glass it was that still.

"Once in, you will not remember what has happened here" the unseen pokemon's voice and Celebi's both seemed to echo as a strong breeze blew me into the pool. I thought I'd have splashed the surface but I just passed through it, like I was a ghost. It seemed to get darker as I quickly fell. Down, down, I fell into the blackness until I was engulfed in darkness and I passed out .

I felt something wet that smelled of salt on my fur. I found the source of the scent: tears on my fur.

'Huh?' I thought as I slowly opened my eyes and saw two yellow paw. a quick glance showed I was back in my familiar pikachu body in the emergency room at the pokemon center. 'That's really odd .' I thought.

Ash was watching the machine that monitored my heartbeat on a screen. I gave his right hand a small lick and he smiled as he looked down at me. (Ash? What happened?) I asked.

He stroked my fur as he replied. "Shh, pal. Everything's going to be okay. Do you remember what happened just now?" he yawned.

I tried my hardest to remember but it was like someone wiped that part of my memory clean (no. Why?)

"Y-you left this world for a few minutes, pal" he said plainly.

(I d-died?)

He nodded slowly. All of a sudden I felt incredibly weary and sore all over my body. The battle with the Persian and the other events of the day must have caught up with me at last. (But -) the next thing I knew, sleep had overwhelmed me

The end

Author's notes: well how did you like it? The reason pikachu doesn't know what mightyenas are this is set before the hoenn chronicles.


	6. aftermath

P2K II: aftermath by WyldClaw

Plot: a little perspective from Ash, Misty, Meowth and Pikachu about a month after my fanfic PK2 : The return of the collector (spoilers abound) :If you think I own any of the characters then you must be in a christmas day induced food coma cause I don't! Meowth's part is written like his ay of speaking . A line of XXX marks the perspective change. Enjoy and please read and review. Thanks!

XxX. XxX. XxX. XxX

**Misty:**

So much has changed a lot in the past month or so but the major change is my boyfriend (I can't get over saying it).

He's not as jokey and much more reserved. When I look into his eyes there's a kind of sorrow in them like someone who's endured a lot of hardships in a short time. Unfortunately that's true in his case. Though the scars may be healed from his skin the ordeal left deeper scars- scars that will take much more time to recover than a few cuts. I've seen the way he sadly looks at Pikachu at times. I can't say I blame him after the mouse took Giovanni's bullet for him. Ash also told me secretly about the death/ de-evolution in the Pokemon Center when he was a Raichu. Both of them have been through so much pain lately and I wish that I could do something to help them recover. I know this is a battle they have to face alone

Lawrence and Giovanni must have survived both Togepi's Metronome on the airship and Charizard's Fire Blast attack. I think they put a huge bounty on our- more like Ash and Pikachu's heads. Lately we've had to deal with all sorts of kidnapping/ pokenapping attempts not just from Rocket goons but from bandits and outlaws. It hasn't made our journey the easiest but luckily I have my Pokemon- including my incredible Golduck by my side to help save them.

I just wish things would go back to the way they were and Ash would return to the way he used to be- the boy I fell in love with. But thanks to that Shamuti legend and Giovanni's intervention I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon. I just hope that when we reach Mount Silver for the Silver Conference, Ash will be back to his regular self. At this point, I don't care if he brings up that stupid bike, if he does, then I know he's back to his old self. I can only hope.

XXX. XXX. XXX. XXX. XXX. XXX. XXX. XXX. XXX. XXX.

**Pikachu**

I've experienced a seemingly endless month or so of nightmares reliving what happened that day. It's enough to scare the fur off anyone. I hate it- going through it once was terrifying enough…

I think the ordeal changed both my trainer and I. sometimes at night we'll both have nightmares – whether it's from that day or nightmares that spring from the events. Ash isn't quite the same reckless-playing-the-hero boy I met years ago. He's a bit more sullen and his hands wobble a bit when he pets me. He also gets quiet when he looks at me sometimes –I think it's because I died for those few minutes. I wish I knew what happened but it's like my memory was wiped during that time. I don't even remember de-evolving from a Raichu.

I not only have scars on my ears and tail, although they are now covered by fur, but have things like my fear of pokéballs, will never go away. The threats of the Persian saying that I was a weak pokémon and what Giovanni said to me when I was trapped in the cage are things that will linger. I'll never forget Mega-Kicking that Persian off of me for calling Ash pathetic. Ever since then, I've been wary of every Persian.

My teammates have noticed that I've quieter than normal and sad at times but they don't pry. I think Bayleef knows a bit of what happened because when i have one of my sad times she'll use her Sweet Scent powder. No one asked me how I got into the emergency room that night or why I ended up there. I think Misty and Ash told everyone not to ask me about it, well, Togepi Bayleef and Golduck knew a little bit.

I don't believe for a second Charizard's Fire Blast killed Giovanni, Jessie, meowth and James when it caused the helicopter to explode. I can still hear his cold cruel voice in my nightmares. There is no way that vile leader of Team Rocket would let himself be done in so easily. Plus we've had to deal with a lot more Rocket ambushes than normal. I think he must have put a reward out for our capture cause now outlaws try to get both Ash and I. I know one thing: after the hell he and that evil Persian put me through on Lawrence's aircraft I never ever want to end up in his hands. despite being hunted like a rare pokemon and dealing with the aftermath some good things came out of that situation: Psyduck evolved saving misty on his own, I evolved into a Raichu (briefly) & ash and misty are dating.

XXX. XXX. XXX. XXX. XXX. XXX. XXX. XXX. XXX. XXX.

**Ash: **

It's been a month of horrendous nightmare filled nights- most of them involving that horrible calamity in some form. Sometimes it's reliving the whole ordeal while other times I'm beaten up/ chased by those despicable villians or someone in their pay. I wake up dripping in sweat either to my own screams or Misty. (By the poke-gods I am so lucky to having such a caring girlfriend). A teen like me shouldn't have had to experience those events.

But as horrendous as the incident was (and ruined my sleep) it's truly changed me and not for the better. I'm jumpier and more reserved than before. There are times when I'm petting Pikachu and come across a patch of new fur or a faded slash mark and the memories come back. I'm not as carefree as I once was. I guess that's what happens when you pretty much see your first pokemon beat to a pulp and evolve in front of you. When Nurse Joy told us that he might not make it through the night, I felt like Giovanni had also shot a giant hole where my heart is, it felt that unbearable. Having something like that happen to your first pokémon is utterly painful and heartbreaking it is.

The memory of Pikachu's evolution, sacrifice and (brief) death still claws my heart and memory like a harsh Fury Swipes attack and brings tears to my face. I've secretly told Misty about his short death (she wasn't too surprised at hearing that Lugia intervened). He doesn't remember dying and I don't fancy remembering those heart wrenching minutes so we leave that topic alone. I thought my heart would burst with pride when I heard him talk back to that loathsome, evil Persian and to Giovanni himself. He's been through ever so much in such a short time.

I can't believe we survived that encounter with Giovanni. He is as ruthless and beyond evil as anyone can be and probably would have killed Misty and I if he could. But she didn't hear his threat to go to Pallet and see mom-only I did. I haven't even got the heart to tell her about him knowing my full name or where I live. Even the memory gives me goosebumps. I don't want to know how he knows that. I can't believe that this man is Jessie Meowth and James' boss. I don't think he's dead -he so determined to get his filthy hands on Pikachu (and me) that he must have put a reward out for us. We've had to deal with bandits as well as Rocket grunts. There is no way I'm letting him get his greedy loathsome hands on my best non-human friend… Ever again .

Unfortunately, Jessie, Meowth and James have not quieted down in their attempts to get Pikachu. Now they try to get me as well. I know that Lawrence must have told Giovanni to tell them to get me. One time when Misty was out gathering firewood, they sprayed Pikachu and I with the sticky nets that they used in the Fuchsia City Gym (the nets stuck to us like glue and I couldn't reach any of my pokéballs) an then used a crane to lift us up. Luckily, Misty and Golduck saved us in the nick of time. If it were not for her creaming them, we wouldn't just be having those horrible nightmares; we'd be living them

Whenever I'm feeling down thinking about the bad changes since the airship, Misty's there to cheer me up with a kiss. Despite everything that's happened recently my side through it all sticks her. Finally admitting my feelings has been one of the few bright sides of the past few months. Hard to imagine that she is my girlfriend now after all of this

I hope when we reach Mount Silver, I can get back to my old self with regular old battling, not battling to save my and Pikachu's skins

XxX. XxX

**Meowth**

One month. Dat's how it's been since da Boss asked Jessie, James an' I to capture da twoip as well as Pikachu. Well it was actually Lawrence , but he's workin' wid da Boss. I tink dat he still tinks dat if da twoip is in his possession den da twoip can't get out an' save da world or Lugia. I piosonally tink dat Lawrence is so intent on obtainin' Lugia dat he don't realize dat by capturin' da Water's Great Guardian, da waters will over flood da planet. As Jessie an' James told da twoip as we was headin' ta Ice Island , "We don't da world destroyed. Even if we survived, there'd be no one left ta steal from". .

Jessie, James an' I never told da Boss dat we gave Pikachu da TM dat taught 'im Substitute. He'd give us da boot if he found out! Where would we go? Jess an' I don't got any family or a home while James would have ta go home an' face Jessebelle. Dat's a fate worse den his wrath! We knew dat it was gonna be a secret dat all three of us would keep until our dyin' day.

Jessie an' James have told me to just stick to da job at hand … but I can't help feel sorry fer 'im. Ya never would expect dose woids ta come outta my mouth but it's true! Ever since da whole ting wid Lawrence ago he's changed. I guess for him. Dere were two parts of dat horrible day dat I tink really changed 'im. One of dose parts must 'ave been when he had ta see dat awful Persian brutally attack pikachu an' nearly kill 'im. We may be villainous but we ain't evil an 'would never an' i mean never sink ta dat level! He's just a kid! Da other think must have been when Raichu got shot by da Boss' bullet. Jessie would be heartbroken if someting like dat happened ta Arbok an' da same ting goes fer James an' Weezing.

Although I don't show it to dem, I'm glad when we get blasted off now. It means dat da twoip an' Pikachu are safe from fer anuder day. When I heard da Boss tellin' Pikachu what he was gonna do ta him ta get all da soft-heartedness out, I shuddered. When I was da top cat, I had ta see rockets whippin' an' starvin' da pokémon dat didn't do da attacks right or refused ta battle. It was horrible an'. dat's something dat ya don't ever forget.

Time for me to do my usual wake up routine for Jessie an' James, a nice little servin' of my Fury Swipes across dere faces an' Jessie yellin' in my face. So I gotta put on my mask, 'cause dey would never understand my sympathy for da twoips. Dey'd jus' say dat Pikachu's tunderbolt fried my brain.

The End

Author's notes: did you like it? Hated it? Thought Meowth was too OOC ? Let me know in a review. Be sure to check out my other fanfics. Thank you


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